


5 Years Early

by SkyEclipse



Category: Death Note & Related Fandoms, Death Note (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Based on the manga, Canon Rewrite, Canon Universe, Child Yagami Light, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pre-Canon, The Entire Series Starts 5 Years Earlier, Wow somebody maybe help me with all the canon tags haha, Young L
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-20
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:07:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 25,953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25399648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkyEclipse/pseuds/SkyEclipse
Summary: In this parallel world, Ryuk decides to drop the Death Note 5 years earlier than the original canon story. 12-year-old Light picks it up, and he's going to use it to eliminate all the bad guys in the world! Will he be able to go far with his plans, or will 19-year-old L stop him in time?
Relationships: Beyond Birthday & L, L & Yagami Light, L/Yagami Light, Yagami Light & Yagami Sayu, Yagami Light & Yagami Souichirou
Comments: 96
Kudos: 241





	1. The Death Note

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This series has been posted on Amino before, and I am cross-posting it to Fanfiction.net as well. I always wanted more little-Light fics, but they're so rare, so I guess I have to do it myself! xD
> 
> I always wondered what would happen if the Death Note was dropped earlier, when Light was younger and not so bored. How different would things be?
> 
> The whole cast is 5 years younger, and the story begins in a similar way, but will diverge as some things are obviously different, like how Misa wouldn't be a pop-star yet, and the robber wouldn't have been around to kill her parents, so she won't appear in the story. Characters will act on their age, so Light won't be as in-character as he would in his 17-year old self, and same applies for the other characters!
> 
> I don't know if I plan to have any eventual L and Light have anything romantic ongoing (when they grow older), and I doubt I would. I plan to have a friendship relationship for all the characters, no romance going on. (Will update tags or something if I ever do change my mind though)

  
It was a very boring day as usual. The sun was setting and 12-year-old Yagami Light sat in his seat, staring out the window as the teacher droned on about a useless lecture on the different gases found in the atmosphere. Light already knew all about it; Light knew everything the teachers taught in school by now.    
  
_ This is so boring. Hurry up, hurry up, _ Light begged silently.  _ Let the bell ring, let the bell- _ _  
_   
Something caught his eye.    
  
A black object fell from the sky, dropping down below. Light watched in disbelief.  _ Just where did that book come from? _ _  
_   
**RRRRRRIIIINNNNNGGGGGG!!!** **  
**   
Light jumped out of his dazed wonder in shock.    
  
_ The bell!  _ Light praised in silent wonder. He wasted no time in jumping off his seat, quickly sliding off and out of the class with his bag in tow. Some of his classmates called after him, but Light paid them no heed. He had something to go and check, after all.    
  
His little feet carried him across the hallway, down the staircase and onto the verdant, trimmed grass outside the block. Lying squarely in the middle of the small field was the black book that Light had seen earlier. His breath was caught in surprise and he skipped over, grabbing the notebook hastily before running out of the area, hoping the caretaker did not catch him ruining the grass with his shoes.    
  
Curiosity was piling in his head as he stopped to rest once he escaped through the school gates. The thin, black book was cool to the touch, gripped tightly in his hand, and he brought it up to his face to take a good look.    
  
English alphabetical letters were scrawled over the cover. Light frowned, racking his brain for the English lessons he had been taking recently. “D...Dea...Death. N-N-No, Not...  _ Death Note!” _ _  
_   
Light grinned in triumph, praising himself for managing to read the title properly. He was a genius! Even though he only started learning English, it was a piece of cake for someone like him. Then he flipped to the first page, and his grin faded into a huge scowl.    
  
_ Curse whoever made this book!! _ _  
_   
*****   
  
“I’m home!”   
  
Light sauntered into the living room after taking off his shoes. His feet pitter-pattered across the wooden floorboards, and he plopped his bag down as he skipped over to the kitchen where his mother stood. She was smiling as always. “Welcome home, Light.”   
  
Light beamed back at her. “What’s for dinner today?”   
  
“Some sukiyaki udon with eggs,” came the reply. “What fruits do you want for dessert? I got some apples and strawberries from the market today.”   
  
“Apples!” Light perked up happily. Then he thought of something. “Is Daddy coming home for dinner tonight?”    
  
Sachiko pulled a grim expression for a flicker of a moment before grinning again, though her smile seemed fake. “No, Light. Daddy is very busy lately, what with  _ that _ case going on...”   
  
“Oh.”   
  
Light looked down in disappointment. His father had been away from home for almost a week now, going after some huge murder case. Ever since Sōichirō was promoted to Chief last year, he rarely ever came home anyway.    
  
_ Light, I have to work hard to keep the streets safe so everyone can walk home freely without worrying about bad people,  _ his father once said.  _ I will lock up all the criminals and make sure you and Sayu can live in peace.  _ _  
_   
Sōichirō was the paragon of justice and a hero in Light’s eyes. He wanted to follow his father’s footsteps! If he worked with his father side by side, he could spend more time with Daddy, and the criminals would drop in number faster, which meant Sōichirō could come home more often...   
  
Light blinked away his tears when he realised himself getting emotional and shook his head.  _ No crying!  _ _  
_   
He quickly went and helped Sachiko with the dinner preparations instead, and soon Sayu came home and graced the atmosphere with her cheerful chatter.    
  
*****   
  
Light pranced into his room after a delicious meal and a good shower. He put on his pajamas and approached his schoolbag, which he had placed on the desk after dinner. It was time for homework! The little brunette promptly dug his hands into the bag, intending to take out all the books inside when he noticed the mysterious black Death Note.    
  
His attention was sought once more. The sleek, leathery cover seemed to allure him into a state of emptiness, washing away all his thoughts of schoolwork.    
  
_ Hold... wield... utilise...  _ **_write in it…_ **

_  
_ Strange voices echoed in the child’s head as he held the Death Note in his hands, his russet eyes mesmerised by the black tome. The voices were getting louder. 

  
He had to... had to write...   
  
_ Knock, knock! _ _  
  
_

Light snapped out of his senses and put the book down, his head jerking towards the door. Sayu waltzed in just after she rapped twice on the wooden door, her little pigtails bouncing along with her steps. “Big brother!” She giggled happily.    
  
Light’s heart melted as it always did whenever he saw Sayu smiling.  _ She’s so cute!  _ Light thought with a pleased sigh. Sayu was such an adorable little sister, and he had been very protective of her ever since she was born.    
  
“What’s wrong, Sayu?”   
  
“I need help with my homework,” Sayu half-whined. Light nodded.    
  
“Okay, let me just put my things aside.”   
  
He took the books on the table and placed them on his bed, specifically packing the Death Note into the shelf beside his bed. With that, he helped Sayu for the rest of the night and forgot about the mysterious notebook for a few days.    
  
*****   
  
Friday nights had been set for Light’s English tuition classes for months, and he sat and poured over a dictionary while his English teacher rambled on about adjectives and nouns. The dreary class had brought forth Light’s memory of the Death Note, as the child remembered well how all the words inside the book were in English too.    
  
_ A challenge I will decipher!  _ Light thought with utmost confidence. A genius like him should not be deterred by a couple of foreign letters!   
  
“ _ Pssst!  _ Hey, Yagami-kun,” a voice suddenly whispered beside him. Light turned and looked at his friend, Yamamoto.    
  
“What is it?” Light asked, trying not to sound annoyed from being disturbed.    
  
“Have you read the latest Shōnen Jump yet? I have it with me right now!”   
  
Light’s countenance lit up. “Oh? Pass it to me!”   
  
“Only if you help me with this question...”   
  
There was a brief exchange of goods and Light got ahold of the magazine. He quickly flipped through to read his favourite manga from the magazine, a hero shōnen series where a masked man dressed in a red cape went around defeating bad guys to keep the world safe. The masked man had magical powers and would not hesitate to hurt or even kill evil villains in the name of justice.    
  
_ Ahhh, Supaman is so cool! _ Light cheered inwardly as he finished the chapter. Before he could pass it back to Yamamoto, however, the book was snatched out of his hands. Light looked up in surprise.    
  
“Mr. Genius, I know you’re the smartest kid in class, but you’re not supposed to be reading comics in my class! I’m confiscating this!” said a very stern-looking teacher. Light groaned and tried not to look at poor Yamamoto. He could feel his friend’s aura threatening him to complete all his English class work later...    
  
*****   
  
Once again Light entered his bedroom after a long day. He sank into the bed, heaving a contented sigh when his eye caught sight of a black and thin book.    
  
_ Death Note,  _ Light remembered.    
  
He got up and pulled the sleek Note out from the shelf, his fingers gently caressing over the leather.    
  
**_Read, use, write..._ ** **_  
_ ** **_  
_ ** Light’s eyelids fluttered. The book was calling out to him. He was feeling a little muddled.   
  
He opened the book and noted the words.    
  
“Instructions...” Light easily made out the alphabets in his trance-like state. He could understand the words as if it came naturally to him.    
  
He sat there, his gaze fixed to the book as he read the rules aloud, his fingers sliding across the pages as comprehension dawned upon his little mind.    
  
When he was done, Light pulled out of his befuddlement and thought about what he had just read.    
  
_ If I write a name, the person dies in 40 seconds... _ _  
_ _ Whose name should I write? _

_  
_ Then Light realised what he was saying to himself and gasped. “What am I doing?” Light groaned.    
  
“I can’t possibly just write down somebody’s name... they’ll die and that’s bad! It’s the same thing as killing people! Wait, assuming if the book is real of course... but how can it be real? Such a thing...”   
  
Light’s gaze fell back to the pages. He wanted to deny and claim the book an elaborate hoax, but something was stopping him from doing so. It was as if...   
  
_ As if the book was alive. _ Calling out to him to use it.  _ Use it.  _ Write.  _ Write _ in it. Names,  **names** ...   
  
Light gulped and put the Death Note down. There was something off about the book, and he was a little frightened. He placed it back on the shelf quickly and pulled his blanket over his head, trying to forget about the Death Note. Very quickly, he fell into a deep sleep...   
  
*****   
  
_ “We bring to you breaking news, live on television. A live hostage situation has been-“ _ _  
_ _  
_ Light looked up from his homework in surprise. He had been watching the English channel to improve his proficiency in the language while working on some math equations when the broadcast was abruptly interrupted.    
  
It had been a day or two since he put the Death Note away. His family members were not present at the moment - it was a nice weekend and Sayu was enjoying some party at a friend’s house while Sachiko had gone out shopping. Sōichirō, as usual, was away solving a serial murder case.    
  
Light kept his attention on the television screen. The news reporter was firing off about some live hostage situation at the stadium about a dozen miles away from his home. Light sighed.  _ Why do criminals appear and make life hard for others? _ If only they didn’t exist - his father would be home and the world would be happier and safer.    
  
_ If only they were all wiped out from the world. _

  
Light felt a weird egging behind his head. It was as if something was calling him. He tried to pay it no heed.   
  
_ “The Chief of the NPA is currently leading the group of police against the escaped prisoner, Matsumoto Chizuo, leader of the Aum Shinrikyo cult that masterminded the Tokyo Subway Sarin Attack-“ _ _  
_   
The young boy was fully enraptured by the live broadcast as soon as he heard his father being mentioned.    
  
“Daddy! Daddy is busy fighting crime!” Light piped up cheerfully. Excitement flooded his veins. Knowing that his father was on television, fighting crime like a hero, it was amazing! Then he heard several gunshots in the background, and his delight dissipated instantly.    
  
_ Guns! D-Daddy is in danger!  _ A horrified Light informed himself. Suddenly, a certain black book popped into his head.    
  
_ Death Note! I can use it! _

_  
_ He quickly carried himself upstairs, looking for the leathery jotter. It was still there, standing out among all the other colourful, thick paperbacks.   
  
Light grabbed the book and raced downstairs, back to the living room where the television was currently blaring with background screams and gunshots. His brown orbs landed on the photo of the perpetrator shown at the corner, with the criminal’s full name blasted on screen.    
  
His right hand beheld a black pen. He flipped open the book and stared at the blank first page.  _ This was it.  _ The moment of truth. Time seemed to move slowly...   
  
_ Matsumoto Chizuo,  _ Light carefully wrote.    
  
He heaved a sigh when he was finished. He had done it — there was no turning back now! Gently, the seconds ticked by.   
  
40...   
30...   
20...   
10...   
9... _ 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1— _ _  
_   
Nothing seemed to change. Light’s shoulders slumped. The book was a fake joke after all! How disappointing. How stupid he was to believe in such a t—   
  
_ “Wait, we’re receiving new information!”  _ The news reporter suddenly burst out excitedly, just as the sound of screams and gunshots abated.    
  
Light’s round eyes grew wide with shock. He watched in disbelief as the news reported of the death of the criminal— _ a heart attack they said _ —and the hostages were all safe and free...   
  


_ Incredible.  _

Light suddenly realised just how heavy the Death Note weighed in his hands.


	2. Plan

The afternoon sunlight was streaming into the room as Light huddled under his covers. The Death Note was placed beside him. 

  
Ever since he wrote down the name, Light had been in shock. The Death Note no longer called out to him, but the young boy’s mind was already plagued with the book anyway.   
  
_Killed a person. I_ **_killed_ ** _a person. Did I really do it?_   
  
It seemed so surreal. To think that he caused a death just by writing a name down. His little mind could not decide whether to feel horrified or amazed. It was just so bizarre!   
  
Light rolled to his side and opened the Note again, his eyes scanning the parchment. The name that he had scribbled upon was glaring back at him.   
  
_I killed this man._   
  
Light did not see the death himself. It was so hard to believe that it happened. His insides were empty. Blank. But... What if it was just a huge coincidence?   
  
_...Should I test it again?_   
  
Light’s expression wavered. If it was just a coincidence, then wouldn’t that be just great... he would not – no, he _could_ not be held responsible for someone’s death. But if it were real, that would mean that he had killed _two_ people...   
  
Light blanched at the thought. Now, he was torn between curiosity, a need for confirmation, and guilt.   
  
The war between emotions waged internally in his head. Finally, Light inhaled deeply and grabbed the Notebook.   
  
_This is crazy! I’m going mad... Ah, I’ll get some fresh air! Maybe I can visit the bookstore nearby._   
  
Light put the sacred tome into his bag and headed out to the bookstore, trying to keep his mind away from the whole fiasco. The blue sky was starting to bleed orange and gold, and the hours were turning into an early evening. There weren’t many people running about; it was a quiet and peaceful neighbourhood.   
  
The bookstore finally came into sight, and Light trudged in with an innocent smile. He could sniff out the scent of books in the air, and he loved it. He enjoyed reading. Books carried all the knowledge his curious little mind hungered for, and Light ate it all up easily.   
  
Since he came here so often, the cashier lady already knew him by face and greeted him with a smile. “Hello, little one. What brings you here today?”   
  
Light said, “I’m going to check out the magazines! Maybe some of the comics too.”   
  
He pranced over to the article section and stared at the selections. Some new books for young readers had arrived. A few of them were about imaginary heroes and vigilantes.   
  
Light liked to read such stories – it reminded him of his father. The little boy was also a huge fan of justice himself. He reached out to take a book when his attention was caught by two men with fierce, scary expressions walking into the store. They held big knives in their hands.   
  
Light winced and decided to hide in a corner, sensing that these men were up to no good!   
  
The two adult men glanced around. It was fairly empty at this time; they did not notice Light hiding nearby.   
  
“Miss!” The bigger one growled. “Give me all the money in the registry, or I’m going to cut you!”   
  
The cashier lady was frightened, easily so. “Wait, please! Don’t hurt me!”   
  
“Well, ya better take out the cash then, or I will make you bleed!”   
  
“Y-yes, yes sir!” Shaking, the lady reached for the registry, punching in the code to open the cash box.   
  
_A robbery assault,_ Light recognised instantly. His heart thumped. _Where is Daddy? Right now bad things are happening... someone has to stop it!_ _  
_ _  
_ His little hands trembled as he gripped his bag. He could feel the Death Note in it. An idea popped into his head.   
  
The robber’s partner chuckled. “Geez, you’re so good at this!”   
  
The bigger adult sneered. “Of course. I’m the great Nakamura Jirokichi. This woman is easy prey. Ain’t ya?” Nakamura brandished the knife near the lady’s face proudly as he said so.   
  
“Y-yes, please don’t hurt me, I’m almost done-“   
  
Light held the Note in his hands. He thanked his lucky stars for bringing a pen with him. Now he needed to write the name. How nice of the man to tell him what he needed to know! But what were the exact characters for Nakamura Jirokichi? He would have to take a guess.   
  
Light wrote down a few combinations to it. And on his fifth one, he could hear the woman behind the counter squeaking in fear as she handed him a wad of cash notes.   
  
“Good job. Now, let’s go!” Nakamura’s partner said.   
  
The two men promptly made their exit. When Light crawled out of his hiding spot, he found the lady crying behind the counter. She looked absolutely terrified, and Light was sorry to see her so shaken. _Those evil men!_ Light thought angrily.   
  
The young boy wanted to console her, but his attention turned to the two men who were still in near distance; both were walking away confidently from the store. He stared after them.   
  
40 seconds.   
  
The older man suddenly writhed and gasped out loud, much to Light’s delight.   
  
_It worked!_ _  
_ _  
_ Light’s face was pulled into a smirk and he dashed forward to the lady. “Call the police, Miss! Something is happening to one of the robbers!”   
  
The man had already sunk to the floor, and his accomplice had taken the money and ran away in a panic. Nodding, the cashier lady wiped away her tears and reached for the phone.   
  
Light cheered inwardly. The Death Note was real! And he killed someone. But that someone was a bad person.   
  
_He deserved it,_ Light told himself. There was little remorse. And then, Light found that he had decided.   
  
_This Death Note is a gift! And I am going to use it!_ _  
_ _  
_ *****

_Every superhero starts out as a normal, average person when they get blessed with special powers one day and find the answer in life. I guess this is what is happening to me. The Death Note is my calling!_

Light grinned at the black notebook as he sat on his bed while his mind ceaselessly thought of the events so far and how his life was playing out like a shōnen protagonist. It was like some kind of dream come true! He was very excited at the revelation. 

_I am a hero. I mustn’t abuse my powers and become like those cheap villains in Supaman! So that means, the only way to use such an incredible power is to erase criminals! Even though killing is bad, criminals are worse! They don’t deserve to live. Yes, there’s no better way than to use the Death Note for eradicating evil people!_

Light was still a child, and his sense of justice was very much black and white. If the act of killing had tormented him the day before, he did not think so now. He could see and justify himself this way — he was ridding the world of filth! If he did so, the world would be happier and safer. And...

_With less bad guys out there, Daddy won’t be so busy anymore. He’ll come home more often! Then we can play kites together. He promised me last year but we never had time to do it until now..._

Light sniffed at that thought. Perhaps he did carry some resentment in his heart: the bitterness of his father working so hard. Yet Light knew his father did it for the sake of justice and for their family, so he aimed it at the crooks that kept his father involved instead. 

At that moment, a plan began to form in Light’s mind. He would use the Death Note to erase criminals that did really bad things, and he would have to be very secretive about it! Superheroes always keep their identities hidden, after all. Besides, dire consequences could be the outcome should the Death Note fall into the wrong hands. He would be helping his father covertly, too. Even if the Chief of the NPA might not agree with him (as that seemed to be the case with most police chiefs in hero stories) Light would continue to feign ignorance and continue his duty as saviour of the world! It was a great plan. 

“But first, I should take up some computer classes! I need to find out how to get into Daddy’s computer and leave no trace. He always has an updated criminal database folder in it so he can continue working when he comes back home,” Light spoke aloud. In the meantime, he could only deal with getting his sources from newspapers and television. 

“Wow, that sounds good. Having fun, are we?” A voice suddenly sneered beside Light’s ear. 

The kid froze for a second before he looked beside him. 

Just two inches away from him was a face of monstrosity that made his whole body convulse in fear. His blood ran cold at the sight of the huge blue visage, riddled with razor-sharp teeth and large, bulging eyes. 

A nightmare that came to life. 

**_“ArghhHHH!!”_ **

Light screamed at the top of his lungs, scrambling away and falling over the bed, hitting the floor. The monster leaned back and looked down at Light, grinning. It towered over the brunette, casting a shadow over the child. 

“M-monster!” Light screamed again, frightened out of his wits. He got onto his legs and scrabbled for the closet, tearing the doors open and clambering inside. It was dark, and he was shaking all over. What he just saw was very real. 

_Please don’t eat me,_ Light prayed silently. To think that all his amazing ideas of saving the world would be ended so quickly like this. _Please don’t eat me, please don’t please don’t pleasepleaseplease—_

“Aww, don’t be shy! I ain’t gonna hurt ya-“

The voice was coming right next to Light. The little boy shot out of the closet like a lightning bolt by reflex. He barely missed seeing the monster’s head pop through the closet and out again, as if the piece of wooden furniture wasn’t there. 

It was too much for the little boy. He sat on the floor before the monster and did the only thing he could think of — he started crying. “ _Waaah!!_ Please don’t EAT ME! WAAAH—-“

“For _fucks’_ sake,” the hideous creature cussed angrily, “I’m not going to eat you!” Then it grumbled off, “Humans kids sure have the _wildest_ imaginations...”

Light paused in his bawling and looked up with teary eyes, not catching the last part of what the creature said. “R-really?”

“Yes,” the frightening entity replied gruffly. “I am not here to eat yer, I swear. So stop being all snivels. I didn’t come to babysit.”

Light blinked with a hopeful expression. “Then why are you here? What are you?”

“I’m a _Shinigami_. The name’s Ryuk. I came here because... I am the Shinigami who possesses the Death Note you currently have in your care.”

Light’s brown eyes widened in awe. “A Death God... so the Death Note belongs to you!”

“Yes, it belonged to me,” Ryuk corrected casually, “but it’s yours now. You picked it up, so it belongs to you. And by Shinigami rules, I have to follow the owner of the Death Note around, so I came here.”

There was a brief silence as Light stared. Then he wiped his tears and climbed back onto his bed, gazing at the Shinigami with newfound curiosity. Once the sense of danger had gone, fear no longer found its place in his expression. 

“This is quite surprising... but I suppose it does make sense,” Light began. Then he heard footsteps outside his room and the door opened abruptly. 

“Light!” His mother walked in. “Are you okay? I heard you screaming!” 

Light gave his mother the utmost shocked expression he could possibly muster. “What! Wait mum! I can explain—-“

“What happened?” Sachiko asked, rushing to her son’s side. She phased through Ryuk’s body like it was nothing; the Shinigami had been standing next to the bed. 

Light was confused. Why was his mother acting like—

“Only the owner of the Death Note can see or hear me,” Ryuk told Light nonchalantly. 

_Oh. Handy._

“Mummy,” Light quickly said, “I took a nap and had a nightmare! I dreamed that a big and scary monster was coming to eat me! But it’s okay now, I’m fine!”

“Really?” Sachiko patted her son’s head, her face full of worry. 

“Yes, it’s alright. I’m going to rest for a little while more, then I need to do my homework,” Light lied as much as he could. He was good at it, but he did not like lying. His father had often said that liars ought to be punished! 

Sachiko nodded, seeing that her son was indeed fine. She smiled. “Alright. Just a nightmare. Don’t work too hard, you have school tomorrow. You should sleep soon.”

“I will, Mummy.”

“Good,” said the gentle mother as she took her leave. Once she was gone, Light swerved his gaze back to Ryuk. He took a deep breath. 

“So,” Light started again. “In a lot of hero stories, the hero has some sort of companion with him. You must be it!”

Ryuk tilted his head sideways. “I’m sorry, what?”

“You’re my companion!” Light blurted excitedly. “My life is really running just like a shōnen manga protagonist, oh boy, this is really cool! But it’s too bad, you’re _ugly_.”

Ryuk stared blankly at the child. 

Not noticing anything, Light went on, “Since you’re here, I suppose you’d want to know what I’m going to use the Death Note for! Well, I’ll tell you! I am going to write the names of bad people in it! Bad people don’t deserve to live. If I remove them from the world, it will be a safer and happier place to live for everyone. I shall be the hero and saviour of mankind. The Death Note will be my magical weapon!” 

Ryuk shrugged. “Sounds like a worthy goal. But you’ve only written like two names in it so far. The human world is chock full with criminals. You’re going to have to do a lot of work.”

“Don’t worry,” Light piped. “A hero doesn’t start out cleansing the whole world immediately! I have to do it one step at a time.” 

“Alright, you do you, _heh heh_ ,” Ryuk said. Then the Shinigami saw some apples lying in a basket on Light’s table. He grabbed one and bit into the fruit, giving an exclamation of delight as he chewed. “Wow! Apples in the human world are really tasty! In fact, it’s so juicy and good...”

Light smiled. Ryuk likes apples! _We’ll get along just fine,_ Light thought.   
  
  



	3. Hero

_Light and Ryuk, the duo of justice!_

_Fighting evil and crime,_

_One at a time!_

_Ain’t no crook be let off the hook_

_Grab a pen and a coat_

_Save the world with the power of the Death Note!_

“Hey kiddo, what are you humming there?”

Ryuk peered down at the bouncy creature who was known as Yagami Light, currently doing some homework like a diligent, good student. 

“I’m making a song in my head, Ryuk,” Light told his deathly companion with a smirk. “It’s going to be our hero theme song! Like the cartoons!”

Ryuk glared. The child was both entertaining and annoying at the same time. “That’s great, kiddo, but I just want to clarify something here. I am _not_ your partner. I am on _no one’s_ side. Understand?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Light shrugged. “They always say that. But sidekicks usually come around after a few _seasons_...”

Ryuk was about to retort when Light put down his pencil. “Finally, all done,” the brunette announced happily. 

“Oh? Finished your school chores, _heh_ , can we play some games now? I’m bored.”

Light hit shook his head. “You can go ahead. I bought some single player games just for you, Ryuk.”

Ryuk grumbled. “Those games better be good then. I don’t like being so bored. You know, I never did tell you but if I think I’m getting no entertainment out of our time together, I will have to write down y—“ 

“Yes, yes, now go play your games and leave me alone. I have important things to do!”

“Um, kiddo you should finish hearing what I want to say—-“ 

“Ryuk,” Light looked up coldly. “Do you mind? You’re interrupting my train of thought.” 

Ryuk glowered at the petulant child quietly. 

Light paid the Shinigami no more heed and turned back to his desk, pushing his homework aside. He brought up a huge plastic bag from underneath. It was full of items that Light had bought with the pocket money he saved up for months. 

Ryuk’s interest peaked. “Didn’t you specifically go out to get those things after I told you that whoever touches the Death Note can see me as well?” 

Light nodded. It had been five days since Ryuk arrived at his room, and he’d always kept his Death Note in the drawer when Sayu barged into the room earlier in the morning and Ryuk warned Light about the possible danger. On hearing that, Light decided to go shopping. 

“I need to hide the Death Note better. If someone touches it by accident they’ll see you. I can’t let anyone know about my secret powers! A superhero has to keep his identity hidden.”

“So how are you planning to do it, Light?”

Light smirked, taking out some tape, glue and scissors. “Firstly I am going to disguise the cover. The words _‘Death Note’_ are too obvious for anyone who can read basic English. I will use a book cover protector and stick cute apple stickers over the placement of the title!”

As he spoke, Light cut and slipped a translucent polyester protector over the leathery cover and took out some red apple stickers, pasting them over the white letters of _‘Death Note’._

“If someone grabs the book now the effect should not work, since its the plastic protector they are touching. Then I’m going to further place it in a plastic container just in case people grab the book and touch the pages by accident!”

Light dropped the Death Note into a pink transparent ziplock bag. 

“Lastly I will hide this in a hollow book,” Light told Ryuk as he plunged a hand into the shopping receptacle, bringing out a rather plain, thick and large-looking book. The brunette opened it, revealing a large hollow space just the right size to fit the Death Note into. 

“Interesting! It’s a book in a bag in a book,” Ryuk commented with a nasty chuckle. Kids and their imaginations. 

The young boy nodded enthusiastically. “Then I will place this on the shelf! My mum rarely touches my books and Sayu won’t even go near them... it’s pretty safe either way!”

“I guess so. To be frank, your idea isn’t the best, but it definitely isn’t the worst,” Ryuk remarked. “In the past, Death Note holders always had a big issue hiding it carefully…”

Light’s eyes bulged. “What do you mean _isn’t the best—_ wait, there were other users before me?”

“Yes, the Death Note has had previous holders before you over thousands of years. But you’re certainly the youngest so far.” 

Light looked amazed. “How come I never heard of them before?”

Ryuk scratched his head. “Well there are many variables to it... but I suppose the biggest reason is that the owner of the Death Note loses all memory of the Death Note when losing ownership of it. Usually when it gets destroyed.”

Light glanced at his Death Note, which was still snuggled in the blue hollow book. “It can get destroyed?”

“Yep. Burn it and it’s gone forever. But tearing out the pages won’t do; the Death Note never runs out of pages!”

“Huh...” Light thought about this piece of information. “Maybe I should get a fire extinguisher next time I go shopping.”

*****

Time passed in the blink of an eye. April arrived quickly and Light had shifted to middle school, where he aced every subject once more. 

It would have been another dull, _oh-so-boring_ year if it were not for the Death Note. 

In the past 4 months ever since Light had a hold of the Death Note, he’d killed about 2500 criminals worldwide so far. His main source of news had originally been from the television and newspapers, but when he started taking computer classes, he begged his parents to have a computer and was eventually given one. With access to the internet, he was able to search freely. It also helped with looking up for information and knowledge on skills like hacking. With that, he was soon able to access his father’s police files from his own computer. 

Throughout the 4 months, Light mainly killed his victims with heart attacks, but he’d also done experiments on the bigger, more wicked criminals to test out the other rules of the Death Note. Through his English tuition and the resources he could find online, Light quickly mastered middle-school English even before his new school years had begun; it helped the boy to better understand all the rules in the Death Note. His experiments often had great results, and he was able to gauge the power of the Death Note more proficiently. 

_Alas_ , after all this time, the world had slowly begun to notice the criminals dropping dead around the world. The internet had begun to call it the Kira phenomenon, not knowing whether it was supernatural, man-made or some twisted coincidence. 

**At a certain Interpol meeting in Germany-**

“These deaths have been piling up slowly!”

“Heart attacks around the world on big criminals, it’s probably some huge organisation moving in the shadows.”

“Come on, it’s gotta be a major coincidence...”

“Has anyone heard the theory from Harvard? They think it’s some contagious virus that only targets criminals.”

“What? _Oh please...”_

“It’s a sign from God, I’m telling you. We should repent our sins before it’s too late!”

“There has to be a scientific explanation for it. I’m not listening to those religious blubbering fools.”

A cacophony of noises had been ongoing in the great dark hall since the doors had opened and allowed representatives from all over the world to converge. 

Various people from different countries and intelligence bureaus or major police organisations were gathered here for the meeting, and the head and president of Interpol, Toshinori Kanemoto was seated behind the podium right at the bottom of the huge assembly hall. Beside him was Interpol’s secretary-general, Raymond Kendall. 

“Gentlemen,” the secretary-general boomed into the microphone. “Now that all representatives are present, we shall begin the meeting immediately.” 

Toshinori spoke, “Today you have been summoned to this meeting to discuss the mysterious deaths of at least 1500 inmates and criminals. It only came to our attention lately when the number began rising sharply in the past month; before this, the death toll of criminals and prisoners had rarely exceeded 3 in the same location or hour. Further analysis shows that victims have been constantly dropping dead for about 4 months in different locations around the globe. 

“These people have all died of unnatural heart attacks. More than half of the victims were in good health and had no reason whatsoever to have heart afflictions. However, no drugs or weapons have been found in their systems so far that could lead to inducing cardiac arrest. There is reason to suggest that it is the work of murder, what with the high number of such unnatural deaths; the toll is still rising daily.”

“It’s a huge coincidence, nothing more,” said a respectable woman from the DEA. “The victims in the States have been analysed thoroughly for special substances by the Drug Enforcement Administration and nothing has ever come up in tests to suggest any leads to a cardiac arrest.” 

“You think these unnatural heart attacks have anything to do with drugs?” A man from the FSB of Russia blasted. “You say no weapon had been found, so far. I tell you what: It’s clearly some type of item that leaves no trace behind. Based on the scope of this case, a huge organisation must be committing these murders!”

The assembly hall began to liven up again with insults and mocking remarks across the room. It was a total fiasco, rarely seen in the normally quiet and orderly proceedings of Interpol meetings. People from different organisations were blasting each other with curses and the head of Interpol was clearly stressed as he tried to calm the commotion. 

“Should we consult L?” Someone spoke amidst the ruckus. 

_“L?”_

The noise quickly ebbed away. 

Yagami Sōichirō and his partner, Aizawa Shūichi, representing the NPA, had been watching the heated debates quietly. “Who is L?” Aizawa asked, confused. It was his first time joining an Interpol meeting. 

Sōichirō answered, “A mysterious detective who came into focus a few years ago. So far he’s solved every case quickly and easily, and has gained a reputation among us for his prowess. No one knows who he is, and the only way to contact L is through a man we call _Watari_.” 

“What? So there’s someone like that, huh,” Aizawa remarked in surprise. “He sounds like a _Sherlock Holmes_ living in obscurity.”

“Either way he’s good enough that Interpol has sort of hired him and treats him as a trump card these days.”

Suddenly, a loud voice boomed through the hall. “L already knows.”

Speak of the devil — Watari’s announcement came at such a surprise that it instantly silenced every other voice that dared to speak. The man, just as mysterious as L, was dressed in a trench coat and mask, along with a matching hat. Watari walked down the steps and reached the podium below; all eyes were on him. 

“L is already on the case,” Watari spoke in a deep voice, a hint of British accent ringing through, “and he would like to address everyone at the ICPO.”

Watari brought out a laptop and connected it to a cable. Immediately, a black, gothic font in the shape of the letter ‘L’ flashed over the huge screen before everyone. 

“Greetings,” a warbled, mechanical voice spoke. “I am L.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did a lot of research for the criminals and people, these names all belonged to real people!  
> I thought it was fascinating that the ICPO president was a Japanese until year 2000.


	4. Broadcast

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reminder that the story more or less follows canon events at first but will slowly diverge~

Young Yagami Light just got home from a busy day of school and tuition. His fellow companion, Ryuk was trailing behind him, busy eating an apple. 

“Light, I’m _boooored_ ,” Ryuk called out. 

“I just gave you an apple!” The child whined angrily. Ever since Ryuk warned last week that he would write Light’s name into the Death Note if Light refused to entertain him enough, Light had been cautious and was a little nervous whenever Ryuk complained that he was bored. He had been buying a lot of apples to keep Ryuk happy. 

“I can be bored even while I’m eating,” said Ryuk. “All you do is go to school, go to class, go to _more_ classes after school... then you come home and sit on your desk doing homework and writing names. Think about me! I have nothing to do here!” 

“That’s why I got you all those games on my Gameboy,” Light sulked. 

“I finished playing them,” the Shinigami retorted drily. 

_Oh. Oh bother._

“I’ll get you new games,” Light promised, “but I have to do my work now, okay?”

Ryuk grunted in satisfaction. Since Light was just a kid, it was easy to make Light get delicious apples and new games for him. He liked this setup. However Light could be difficult sometimes, like children could be normally. 

Once Light had completed his daily homework, he switched on the computer and decided to look at the online news sites and forums. 

There were a few cases of incidents, nothing big. Light wrote a few names after making sure the criminals were confirmed culprits. He was about to access his father’s database when he found some interesting stuff on the news site discussion boards. 

“Look, Ryuk!” 

The Shinigami perked up in surprise and flew over. Light looked genuinely excited about something. 

“People in the comments section are talking about Kira.” Light pointed at some discussions beneath an article reporting about a serial kidnapper. 

Ryuk could see the words, mainly praising Kira and asking Kira to serve justice to the crooks. “It seems that you’ve finally gained some traction among the common people,” Ryuk noted as he swallowed his apple. 

Light nodded happily. “People have begun to notice me everywhere! They began calling me Kira not long ago but it had been on rather obscure forums... Now, to think that I can see my ‘name’ appear on one of the major news sites!” 

“Yer famous now, kiddo, ain’t that great?” 

“Yup! Soon I shall slowly make my name worldwide as a hero! And then—”

The news site suddenly flashed white, and black bolded words appeared on the screen.

**‘BREAKING NEWS - LIVE WORLDWIDE BROADCAST FROM ICPO, INTERPOL’**

“Huh?!” Light and Ryuk gaped in surprise. 

After a few seconds, a tall and dark haired man appeared before them with the nameplate ‘Lind. L. Tailor’ displayed beneath. 

Light and Ryuk looked at each other in confusion, then glanced back to the screen. The man had begun to speak. 

“Greetings. I am Lind. L. Tailor. I go by the codename ‘L’, and I control the world’s police forces.”

Light blinked in amazement. “Wow, such a person exists?” the young child blurted aloud. 

The man, Lind. L. Tailor continued, “Recently, criminals have been dying around the world. This successive murdering of criminals around the world is unforgivable, and will not go unpunished. I promise I will find the ringleader or person, ‘Kira’ and bring him to justice.”

Light snorted. “What? How is it unforgivable that I’m killing off the bad guys? _Urghhh,_ never mind that, he said he wants to find me.”

Ryuk chuckled. “Are you scared, Light?”

Light scoffed, “No way, silly Ryuk, of course not! I have the power of the Death Note. Who’s going to suspect me when I write in a book? There’s no way he can find me!”

The man on the screen added, “Kira, I can probably guess what your motives are. However, what you are doing... is evil!”

There was a moment of silence. And then Light’s expression turned dark. Lind. L. Tailor’s words had lit up a fuse within the young child, whose russet eyes widened in anger. “W-what did he say?!”

“He said you’re evil,” Ryuk chortled. 

Light screamed. “Me, evil? _EVIL_?!”

Ryuk was taken aback by the reaction, and shifted away nervously. “Err, Lighto—“

“I’ll show him what EVIL is!! How dare he! I’m a hero, and I’m going to save this world from bad guys! If he thinks I’m evil, he must secretly be a bad guy too!” 

Light grabbed his Death Note and slammed it onto the desk, a pen readily poised in his hand. He didn’t hesitate to write down Lind. L. Tailor’s name in huge letters across a fresh new page. In fact, he was grinning maniacally as he did so. 

“Serves him right for trying to slander my name before I even properly debuted as a hero for the world!” Light jeered. First impressions were important. He had barely started out, yet this ‘L’ did a global broadcast just to call him evil!! What would people think?!

40, _40_ seconds passed. 

“ _Urgarghhhh—_!!!” The man, Lind. L. Tailor suddenly gasped and howled in pain, clutching his chest for a few seconds before collapsing onto the table, motionless. 

_Dead_. 

Light watched and cackled with glee. “Hurray, now that will teach them not to mess with me and call me an evil person!”

Ryuk found Light’s logic a little unsound, but decided to refrain from commenting. 

All of a sudden, the screen switched to a white background with a huge black ‘L’ font plastered on it, written in Cloister Black font. Light, caught by surprise, stared numbly at his computer. “Wha—?”

“Unbelievable.” It was a dull, robotic voice masked under layers of undulations and synthesisers. The unknown speaker sounded a little shaken. “I must confess, I didn’t expect that to happen... but now that I have proof, I am 100% convinced that you are no unscientific phenomenon.”

“W-what is he talking about?” The brunette spluttered in shock. 

“Oh-ho, this is interesting,” Ryuk said cheerfully. Both Shinigami and child had their eyes glued to the screen. 

“Kira, it seems that you can kill a person without actually being there. I wouldn’t have believed this if I did not personally witness it... but such is truth.

“Listen, Kira, the person you just killed was not me, but actually a criminal who had just been assigned to death row the day before, and was a top secret case that you could not have found out through the news or internet.”

Light gasped in anger while Ryuk chortled. To think that the child had been bested by this mysterious voice!

The voice continued, “However, L definitely exists, as my own persona. So since I’ve angered you, why don’t you try and kill me? Come, kill me!”

Light gnashed his teeth furiously. _This person! How dare he make a fool out of me... who does he think he is?!_

L continued to taunt him a few more times over the minute. And when nothing happened, L said, “So it seems that there are certain people you can’t kill. That’s a good hint you’ve given me! In return, let me tell you this: it was a _lie_ when we announced this as a worldwide broadcast. In truth, it’s only being broadcasted in the Kanto region of Japan. With this, I know where you are, Kira.”

At this point, Light squeaked in horror. He had been tricked! Just what was his opponent?! Who was this L...? Fear crept into his beating heart. Then...

“Wow! This L guy is pretty good,” Ryuk squawked. “Best part is, you don’t know his name or face, but now he knows you’re in the Kanto region. How are you going to get rid of him?”

“Grrr...” 

Ryuk noticed little Light looking like a volcano about to erupt. “Uh-oh,” said the Shinigami before backing off.

“THAT BASTARD!!!”

If Light could radiate fire, the room would have been covered in flames right now. The child wore an expression of utmost fury, his face twisted in anger. “HOW DARE HE!”

Light curled his hands into fists and started punching his pillows, screaming incoherently. Then he threw his battered pillow across the room. Next, he lunged at his desk and emptied the pen holder onto the floor, making a mess of stationery across the room. Finally he kicked the table and gave a yelp, regretting it instantly -- his toes suffered a sharp pain instead.

“That goddamned piece of—urgh, _oww…_ ” Light cursed inwardly, massaging his toes. In the corner, Ryuk’s head popped through the wall, sensing that Light had calmed down a little.

“Light, Lighto! What are you going to do now?” asked Ryuk, trying to mask his glee at the excitement of the mysterious challenger.

Light whipped his head to glare at Ryuk. “I’m going to kill him when I find him!” Light spat. “He called me evil on live television, tricked and made a fool out of me… I have never felt so humiliated! Only… only a bad person would do something like that! Unforgivable!!”

“Oh-ho, but how are you going to find him? You don’t know anything about this L person,” Ryuk commented.

“I’ll… I’ll find a way. I’m a genius! Anyway I have to regain my dignity as Kira! I need to work harder and kill more bad guys and show the world I’m the hero they need. I am the true justice!”

“Sure, kiddo…” Ryuk chortled. _Things are beginning to get very, very interesting now..._

“Big brother?”

There was a knock on the door, and Sayu barged in right after. “Are you okay? I heard you screaming from downstairs! Mum was worried that you--”

“Ahh! Sayu,” Light suddenly beamed like an angel that came right out of Heaven, “it was nothing! I just kicked the desk by accident, and it _huuuurt_ so bad, but I’m fine now. Don’t worry about me!”

“R-really? Why are all the pens on the floor…”

“It’s okay, I was carrying the pen holder when I kicked the desk, so I dropped it in pain.” Light crawled over to hug his little sister tightly.

He didn’t notice Ryuk gaping at him, wondering how a child could turn from a nasty demon into the purest creature in the twist of a second.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In the manga, Lind was chosen as he was scheduled to die the next day.
> 
> Lind. L. Tailor in here is a freshly caught dude sentenced to death row in 5 years, who was unlucky enough to be picked as L’s test subject...


	5. L

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: If you haven’t read the Another Note LABB files canon Death Note novel, this fanfiction may be a spoiler!
> 
> If you don’t mind but don’t know about A and B, look at the end notes! ^^

It had been a week after the L incident. 

Throughout this whole time, newspapers and magazines reported about it everyday. The incident had become the number one hot topic in the world, and everyone talked about L and Kira. 

In a cozy-looking home somewhere in the Kanto region, little Light was lazing on his bed reading a comic book. 

Ryuk was sitting beside him, and had just finished fighting some boss monster when he died in a dinky trap. Groaning in frustration, Ryuk tossed the Gameboy away. “Light,” Ryuk whined, “I’m bored...”

“What? Go grab some apples,” Light scowled and pointed at the basket of red apples on his table. 

“Let me read your comic book,” Ryuk demanded. “I want to know what happens to Supaman!”

“Almost done,” Light replied. He flipped through and smiled at the last page. The latest issue of Supaman should be able to keep Ryuk happy for the day. Introducing the series to the Shinigami was a great idea!

After passing the book to Ryuk, Light decided to study when he heard the doorbell ring. He shot up from his bed in excitement. 

“Daddy!” Light exclaimed aloud. Ryuk looked up in interest. He never saw Light’s father home before. The Shinigami decided to put down the book and floated behind Light, down the stairs and to the living room. 

There, standing by the entrance was Light’s parents, and two other men. 

“Hello, everyone. I’m home,” Sōichirō announced. Light happily bounced into his father’s arms while Sayu ran over from the kitchen. 

“Daddy! Did you catch a lot of bad guys?” asked Sayu, joining in the bear hug from her huge father. 

“Of course,” one of the other men laughed. “Your father is the best Chief of Police that Japan ever had!” Light instantly recognised them as Aizawa and Mogi. These two often came by to visit, and worked closely with his father on many cases. 

“Hello, Uncle Aizawa and Uncle Mogi,” the children greeted politely. 

“Oh? Your father is the Chief of Police?” Ryuk exclaimed in awe. Of course, only Light could hear him, but the child made no attempt to comment. He was too happy since his father was home. 

“Daddy, come, let’s eat! Mummy prepared a lot of yummy food today!” Sayu cheered, and went back to the kitchen to help Sachiko with the food. 

Light helped his father place the suitcase to the side and asked, “Daddy, you’ve never been away this long before. You must be working on a really big one. Are you in charge of the Kira case?”

Sōichirō raised an eyebrow. “Astute as always. Indeed,” the chief confirmed. He had high hopes for his child, who already told him about wanting to follow his father’s footsteps. Light was 13 now, but Sōichirō didn’t see a need to hide the truth from his only son. Aizawa and Mogi knew Light well enough to understand Sōichirō’s decisions as well. 

“Ah, that Kira. It feels like we’re finding a needle in a haystack. How are we going to catch a person who doesn’t have to be there in person to kill?” Aizawa looked frustrated. 

“Well, L has a pretty good idea, and we already know that Kira is a  _ student _ based on the timings of each killing,” Mogi pointed out quietly. 

“Indeed. With L, we have a chance,” Sōichirō said before realising, “Light, are you okay? You look really pale all of a sudden, son.”

“Huh?!” Light quickly turned away with a cheerful laugh. “Oh, I’m fine, I’m going to go and help Sayu and Mummy!”

He carried himself away to the kitchens, watching his mother prepare the chicken dish for the night. Sayu was prancing around happily, waving the chopsticks in her hands. They looked delighted to have Sōichirō back home. 

Ryuk floated behind lazily. “Heh,  _ heh _ ... Kiddo, seems like they figured out Kira’s a student based on the timings of the killings!”

Light, standing by the kitchen doorway, was sulking. “I underestimated him,” the brown-haired child spat, his voice small enough to be out of earshot. “That guy is good. He caught my mistake... I’ll have to change the timings from now on!”

“Oh-ho, you’re going to set a time of death for each victim now?”

Light nodded. He would have to confuse L and mislead the damned detective!

Ryuk then brought up another topic. “So, Light, your father just so happens to be the Chief of the National Police Agency, huh?”

Light smirked. “Yes. Isn’t it handy? I can access the police database just by hacking my Daddy’s computer... and I made sure to wipe my movements so they can’t trace it back to me, if they ever find out!” 

“I don’t really understand how computers work, but that does sound very handy, Lighto. Anyway, this whole coincidence amuses me. It’s like the setting of Battoman, where the superhero and the Chief of Police in that comic work together. Except you got him as your own father. Very convenient,” Ryuk remarked with a cackle. 

“Yup, although the police are currently working against me,” Light’s eyes shone, “I’m sure my Daddy will come around in time. Once he sees the good I’m doing for the world, he’ll understand! Just like all the comics. Heehee!”

—- 3 days later —-

In a dark, empty room hosting nothing but a modern computer set, a lone man perched on the wooden floorboards. It was quiet bar the whirring of the computer, and the clicking of the mouse as the man scanned through the monitor. 

He was dressed in loose, simple clothing. His hair was a thick, ebony mess. His eyes, two black orbs that were rendered like the abyss, stared at the screen, reflecting white light full of information. This was L. 

“For the past three days, ever since I told the NPA about my hypothesis that Kira was a student, the killings have changed in pattern. One death every hour...”

L often spoke his mind aloud in the room, as he was always alone. 

“Was Kira trying to fool me into thinking he’s a student? But from this data so far, it’s more likely that he is able to control the time of death of his victims.

“In any case, there is a leak issue. Kira somehow has access to NPA information. I need to address  _ this _ matter...”

A beep sound came from the computer. L recognised it; the beep was different from the signal Watari gave when contacting him. L waited 5 seconds before deciding to handle the call. 

“Yes, B?”

“Lawliet, I hear you’re getting ready to head down to Japan.”

“Indeed. Why are you calling me?” L was not pleased. He had always taken great pains to hide his identity, but B—or rather, Beyond, the only other living creature aside from Watari who knew his real name, always managed to obtain his secret number. L would not have minded as much if B could just stop referring to the detective by his real name. There was always a tiny likelihood of the call being intercepted by authorities or enemies. 

“Asher hasn’t been feeling well,” Beyond spoke in a serious manner. “You should come and visit the Orphanage once the case is over. I’m worried—“

“I will,” L interrupted, his tone bored. If this was all B wanted to contact him for, well, couldn’t he just pass a message to Watari?

“L, please don’t push the matter aside like that. It’s not a joke. I have a bad feeling about it.”

“Alright, I know. I plan to finish up the Kira investigation quickly anyway. It should take about two months to solve.”

“Two months?! You never needed more than a week! Asher can’t wait that long,” Beyond hissed. “You might think it’s one of his depressive episodes again, but I can tell he won’t have long if you don’t come back. Please, Lawliet, you have to!”

L didn’t like being told what to do. Much less from his protégées, who were barely younger than him, and yet they were nowhere near his level of skill and potential. He considered cutting the call, but B would probably call him again. 

“If the case takes more than three weeks, I’m sending you and Asher over to my location to assist me with the case. Surely you can accept this solution?”

Beyond’s breath hitched. They had never met L in person, but here was a golden chance. It was indeed a terrific solution to the discussion at hand, and Beyond knew Asher—who had a month left to live if nothing was done—would feel better if L demanded their assistance in person. 

“Alright. You keep your word,” Beyond replied. “I will see you if you fail to solve the case in three weeks.”

With that, Beyond cut the call. L heaved a weary sigh. Then he made a call of his own — he proceeded to contact Watari. 

“Speaking,” A gruff old man voiced out. 

“Watari, leave the building or at least a place no one can hear you, and put me through to the FBI director. I would like to request his assistance.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> B makes his appearance!  
> Update was a bit slow this week ^^;
> 
> A and B are still alive at this point, and they’re old enough to be chosen for live assessment by helping L on a case!
> 
> Note: A and B are from the Another Note novel, basically they were L’s first generation successors. A suicided from pressure of trying to be as good as L, B went rogue or insane(?) and went to murder some people just to make a case that L couldn’t solve. B appears as a clone of L, he’s a master of disguise and he also has the Shinigami Eyes~ Naomi was the one who caught B before he could get away with the murder case.


	6. Motive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone is stalking Light. Who is it?

Little Light and Sayu were coming back from Spaceland after a long day of fun. Light held Sayu’s hand tightly as they walked while Sachiko trailed behind, carrying two huge teddy plushies that she bought for her children at the amusement park. Sōichirō was supposed to join them today, but due to the Kira Case, he was unable to take the day off. 

Light realised that he was the cause, of course. He planned to persuade his father to drop out of the investigation. If that didn’t work, he just hoped it would pay off in the long run, when the police accepted Kira’s ways and no longer wanted to catch Kira. By then, things should improve for his father. 

“Big brother, we should totally go again soon! I want to play the merry-go-round and the teapots that slide everywhere!” Sayu chirped. 

“But Sayu, we just went. The tickets aren’t cheap, you know! How about your birthday? I’ll bring you then,” Light told his younger sister, who cheered. 

Sachiko smiled as she watched her two beautiful kids, Light especially. He was such a wonderful, dream child. 

Unbeknownst to her, Light was planning insidiously in his head — it had come to his attention that he was being followed, thanks to good ol’ Ryuk, who informed him about it yesterday. Some sneaky creep had been watching and tailing Light and his family. 

At first, Light thought that it was a potential pedophile interested in little boys, but when he was told that the stalker also followed his mother and sister, he reconsidered the situation — it could be a police agent sent to guard them! But why? Were they afraid that Kira would target the families of policemen working on the Kira Case?

_Or what if I’m wrong,_ Light thought, _and he’s not after me and the Death Note? What if he’s a criminal, part of a small group who got me and my family on their radar, and are planning to break into the house and rob us when we’re out? Or worse, it could be an enemy out for revenge against Daddy, and they want to kill us!_

Light’s mind ran wild with his imagination. He was a little afraid, but he had the Death Note and Ryuk with him! He learned that Ryuk would do things for more apples. Maybe he could get Ryuk to smash the guy up?

_I have to get rid of that guy, in any case. I would be bad if someone keeps stalking me! A hero simply does not get followed everywhere like a common animal._

When Light got home, he peeked out from the curtains of his room. Sure enough, the strange man was there, leaning against the fence. 

“If only I could just walk up to him and ask his name,” Light sighed, closing the curtains. Ryuk chortled. 

“Sure you can. You’re just a kid! He won’t suspect a thing,” said the Shinigami. 

“I doubt so. What if he’s a bad guy? He’ll just grab me and ship me off to _who-knows-where_ ,” Light snapped. 

“A bad guy? Hmm,” Ryuk took an apple from the basket on Light’s desk, “I suppose that is possible. So, kiddo, how are ya gonna deal with it?”

Eyes gleamed red with excitement as Ryuk munched on the juicy red apple, his gaze fixated on Light. The child knew Ryuk was looking for a fun show. 

_Tch, gotta think of a way. At the very least, Ryuk won’t be bored!_

“I need a name and a face, but I don’t even know if that man is a bad person,” Light spoke aloud. “If I’m wrong about the stalker, by the off chance it’s an agent sent to watch over us from the police force, that would be terrible!”

Ryuk nodded. “You only kill bad guys, after all. Once you write a name, there’s no going back. If you make a mistake, it means you screwed up big time, and that’s the end of your superhero career,” the Shinigami snickered. 

Light shuddered at the thought. His road to becoming the hero Kira had just begun! He had to be careful. Being a superhero is hard work!

“I’ll have to think of a plan. I gotta figure out his motives before proceeding,” the young boy said. Then he noticed Ryuk glaring at him. “What?”

“Ya know, kiddo, I actually wanna tell you something. Do you know the two main differences between a human and a Shinigami when they wield the Death Note?”

“Of course not. So what is it?” Light showed some interest. 

“The first difference is that when a Shinigami uses the Death Note to kill a human, they obtain the remaining natural lifespan of the human that could have been, if their name wasn’t written. This doesn’t apply to humans who use the Death Note.”

“Aww,” Light made a face, “that would have been pretty handy if I could gain the lifespans of my victims.”

“Right. The second difference is that the Shinigami are always able to write down the names of their victims. This is because a Shinigami’s eyes have the ability to see the names and lifespans of a human. Obviously, you don’t have that ability.”

“Eh? Whoa! That’s really cool. So what’s my lifespan?”

“I can’t tell you that.”

_“Why_ _not?!”_

“It’s against the Shinigami rules,” Ryuk shrugged. “If I break it, I could die. I’m not risking my life for something like that.”

Light pouted. “So a Shinigami can die after all. But if you can’t tell me about my own lifespan... then I’m guessing it also applies to telling me about other people’s names as well.”

Ryuk nodded. “I can’t tell a Death Note owner the name of his would-be victims, if he doesn’t already know what it is.”

“Damn,” Light sighed. “You got me all excited for a moment there, silly Ryuk. Why did you even bring it up? Now I feel cheated.”

Ryuk cackled. “That’s because I wanted to tell you that while I cannot provide the information, I can give you the Shinigami Eyes, for a price...”

Light’s brown orbs shone with excitement. “Are you serious?! _Yay!_ Give it to me, give it to me!” The child bounced over to Ryuk, stretching his hands out demandingly.

Ryuk swatted away Light’s hands, his tone impatient, “Wait! I said it comes with a price, Light. You’ll need to give up half of your current lifespan to me, if you want the Eyes. Are you willing to do it?” 

On hearing the conditions, Light’s brown pair of shimmering orbs dulled instantly. “Half of my lifespan? You gotta be kidding... no way! What a shitty power. I don’t need that.”

“Huh? But you’d be able to see everyone’s names and lifespan! Just think about it,” Ryuk pointed out, “you no longer have to scheme over how to get a name when you can just look at their face!! The whole world would be at your mercy— _uhh_ , I mean, all the criminals would have a hard time after that.”

“NO!! I am not giving up my precious years for it. I have a long way to go ahead of me! Your price sucks,” Light stuck his tongue out at the Shinigami. 

“ _Tch_ , fine. I’m just letting you know, the deal is open at any point of time if you want it, okay?” Ryuk then muttered under his breath, “Kids, _how_ _boring_...”

Light pretended not to hear that last part. 

“Geez, let me think. I could use the Death Note to help me,” Light said, “I need to arrange some event that could make the stalker reveal his identity or motive. But what?”

He glanced at Ryuk for a second before turning away. _Yeah, that guy’s no use,_ Light told himself before pulling out the Death Note to comb through the list of names where he had pulled experiments on. 

Ryuk said, “You totally weren’t thinking that I was useless, were you...”

Light gave the Shinigami his roundest, most innocent eyes and said, “No, of course not!”

“Good, because I don’t appreciate being called useless by a chil-“

“Oh!” Light suddenly exclaimed. “I have an idea!”

—————

Raye Penber was a very lucky man. Blessed with the smarts and looks, he quickly rose to be a prominent young agent for the FBI. Under two years, Raye was able to complete all the required training, and now he had been selected to aid L in Japan for the Kira Case!

Oh, what greater honour could there be than helping L by stalking a bunch of harmless-looking family members assigned to him! 

Truly a noble job. Very noble and distinguished. A job for none other than _him_. The perfect job for someone of his caliber, that could also be described as—

“ _Fucking bullshit,_ ” Raye cursed in English. He was truly bored out of his mind! While he took notes diligently all day, there was just nothing special or remotely interesting. _Goddamnit_ , why did he ever beg for his supervisor to choose him for this boring assignment?

Just three more days and he would be free... then he could go sightseeing. Yes, that would be nice; he would visit all the places his new colleague Naomi Misora told him about. 

Raye looked at his notes again. 

—

**9AM: Yagami Light and Sayu leave home and go to school together. Nothing special.**

**10AM: Yagami Sachiko leaves the house to go and buy some groceries at the nearby ‘Isshin Market’.**

**\- She buys a dozen apples, a bag of fermented soybeans, some eggs and a carton of milk.**

**\- She gives some eggs to the vendor at the vegetable stall. They seem to be friends.**

**\- She does not like tomatoes.**

**\- She goes straight home afterwards.**

**12PM: Yagami Sachiko leaves home and goes to the ‘Yamanaka’ bakery. Followed her and she talked to some old couple along the way. She buys some bread and goes home.**

**3PM: Yagami Sachiko leaves home to visit the ‘Kawaii Pets’ pet shop. She was observed throughout the journey. Nothing special.**

**4PM: Yagami Light and Sayu come home from school. Nothing special.**

—

This was pretty much how it had been for the whole week... he would tail Yagami Sachiko wherever she went, and occasionally follow after Yagami Light. He didn’t really bother with Yagami Sayu; he doubted a 10-year-old little girl would be Kira. In fact, he thought it was extremely unlikely that Light was Kira, either. He only followed the boy whenever he felt bored of looking at Yagami Sachiko. 

“Oh, the boy’s leaving the house.” Raye suddenly found Light running out the door, waving goodbye as he did. Raye wrote the summarised details into his notepad and made the decision to follow Light, as he was sick of standing around the Yagami house all day. 

“Ahhh, I’m late for my meeting with my friend!” Raye could hear Light announcing in frustration from a distance. 

With the powers of an FBI agent, Raye trailed after Light expertly; a normal person would never notice themselves being followed! He tracked after the boy down a path that eventually led to a quiet area of an abandoned construction site. 

Suddenly, Raye noticed a large man approaching from the abandoned site — something was not quite right. The middle-aged stranger was burly and dressed in rags; a knife gleamed in the man’s left hand. 

“That can’t be Yagami Light’s friend, can it?” Raye cocked his eyebrows in question. 

Fortunately his answer came soon — the burly man roared and started running at Light, who stood frozen in shock at the sudden change of situation. Raye realised that the boy was in danger!

“Watch out!” Raye dashed out of his hiding space and handled the attacker with a swift display of his Taekwondo skills. He kicked the man away just before Light was stabbed, and Raye made sure to punch the burly man a few times in the head, rendering him bleeding and unconscious before turning around to face Light. 

He noticed how shaken the poor boy looked, pale and scared on the floor. 

“Are you alright?” Raye hurried over to Light’s side. “That man was probably insane. He’s out cold now, don’t worry!”

Light looked up at Raye with a confused expression — Raye cursed aloud as he realised that the child was probably not able to understand him, since he spoke in English. 

“ _You—“_ Raye pointed slowly at Light “—are safe,” he tried to say with a smile. Light stared, and broke into a flood of tears. 

“ _Waaaah!_ Scary man!” Light shrieked in heavily-accented English. 

Raye could feel sweat trickling down his brow. “It’s okay, you’re safe,” he repeated. _Jesus Christ, I did not sign up for a babysitting session!_ He thought. 

Raye was so helpless. In fact, he tried patting the boy on the head and the back, which made Light bawl louder. 

“Oh my God,” Raye exclaimed in despair. “Will you please stop? I am not a bad guy like that man.”

“N-no,” Light sniffled, “I want my Daddy! I want a policeman now!”

“Police?” Raye had a sudden idea. “Wait, I am a policeman! A powerful policeman from the United States!” He whipped out his shiny identification badge and showed it to Light, who stopped crying to take a look. 

If Raye thought he saw the child smirk for a second, he waved it off as a figment of his imagination. 

“F-B-I?” Light slowly read out. “What are you doing here?”

“Someone sent me to watch over you,” Raye pocketed his badge proudly. _Crisis averted!_ “Feeling better? Shall I get you home?”

Light nodded. “Me, safe,” the child blurted happily. 

_Children can be really cute when they’re not crying,_ Raye thought, unaware of the danger he just put himself in. 

He made sure to call an ambulance to the area with an untraceable phone. Raye did not want the authorities to find out who called; he wasn’t supposed to be involved with the suspect, and he was not even allowed to reveal his identity. 

—————

“That was easy,” Ryuk commented once Light got home. The FBI agent Raye had gone away after making Light promise to not tell anyone about him. 

Light nodded, feeling proud of his accomplishment. He managed to get closer to the truth; the stalker had been a protector of sorts. With a set-up thanks to the Death Note, Light managed to get Raye to reveal his true identity with his superior acting skills. In any case, the criminal would die from an accident later, on the way to the hospital. Light made sure that no one would find out any details about the criminal’s identity from the incident; he wrote for the ambulance to capsize and burst in flames before anyone could get him out safely. 

“So now we know that the stalker was an FBI agent, sent by someone. I can only make a guess at this point, but it’s easy to say the man was sent by L,” Light told Ryuk who _oooh-ed_ in awe.

“Why L?”

Light folded his arms. “If it was just a bodyguard role to protect family members of those working in the Kira Case, why would the FBI be sent down to do the dirty work? They’re a prestigious bunch of justice-doers, and it’s even stranger if the Japanese Police Force asked them to do it.”

“So the FBI are not brought to Japan to watch over the families of police members?” 

“Watch over? More like investigate. When we walked back, the agent Raye was scribbling a lot of notes into his notepad. He had been investigating my family for a while… L must suspect that Kira has a way to access police information. This is my blunder. I changed my killing methods too soon when I found out they suspected Kira was a student.”

“This L sure pounces on your mistakes at first sight,” Ryuk cackled. “You’re waddling in deep trouble! If it keeps up, he might just _catch_ you...”

Light sulked. L was a formidable enemy, indeed. “I still have the upper hand,” Light snapped. “They won’t suspect a kid or a notebook, much less a kid writing in a notebook! But things are getting dangerous. I need to lay low and set up some measures. “

“What about the FBI agent?” Ryuk asked. “Are you going to kill him?”

“Hmm...” Light tapped a finger on his lip as he pondered, then said, “he doesn’t suspect me at all. He’s a good person too. I’ll let him live for now.”


	7. Raye Has Poor Work Ethics

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Light gets clumsy sometimes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title has nothing to do with 80% of the content in this chapter...

For the next few days, Light’s plan was simple. 

After knowing Raye’s true identity and motives, little Light tried playing cute, walking up constantly to the agent whenever he spotted Raye following after him. He would blast off with various questions, much to the latter’s annoyance.

“Mr. Raye! How are you today?”

“Mr. Raye! Did you catch any bad guys?”

“Mr. Raye! It’s pretty sunny today, isn’t it?”

After what seemed like the fiftieth time Light popped up from nowhere to say hi, Raye who had been trying hard to ignore the little scrub exhaled in frustration, exclaiming, “How the heck do you keep finding me?! I’m a trained FBI agent with qualifications in espionage, and normal people never notice when I’m hidden and watching... but somehow you, _you_ always manage to find my location! How are you doing it?!”

“Huh?” Light blinked his pretty eyes at the foreign man. “Me no understand so many English words.”

Of course, the young boy actually understood, but Light thought it would be funny to act like a difficult child towards the foolish young agent. As expected, Raye cussed multiple times in four-lettered words beginning with _‘F’_ that shall not be written for reasons against the rating guidelines of the website, and also to protect the minds of young children like Light. 

“Light, how do you keep finding me?” Raye asked again, a lot slower this time. 

Light shrugged. “I just see you,” the boy said. In reality, it involved a lot of bribing and convincing Ryuk that it would be funny to make Raye frustrated and unsettled. The Shinigami eventually agreed to look out for Raye whenever the agent followed them. 

“Fine, what do you want from me?” Raye asked. 

“I want to know why you have been sent to spy on my family,” Light said, a curious expression on his face. 

Raye frowned. “You are very observant,” the man replied. “But _spying_ is a harsh word. I am basically here to watch over some people. That’s all.”

The FBI agents had been told to observe and document the various people that could be linked to Kira. It wasn’t like Raye could just tell a boy about it. 

Light put his hands on his hips, his lower lip jutting out in a pout. “It’s not that simple. The FBI don’t just watch people for no reason. And they have their own country to deal with, there’s no reason why they’d simply come to Japan to do that. What’s the secret?”

_Smart boy,_ Raye mused. “Hey, whatever it is, I cannot reveal—“

“Did L send you?”

“Oh yeah, L— _what?!_ How did you know!” blurted a shocked Raye, who then realised what he had done. Staggering, Raye pointed a finger at a smug-faced Light, stammering, “Y-you! You tricked me into saying that!”

_It’s not my fault you’re such an idiot,_ Light thought, amused. “Mr. Raye, pointing at someone is bad manners! Didn’t your mother teach you that?” 

The agent looked like he had been slapped. Grumbling, Raye stuffed his hands into his pockets. “Whatever, kid, I’ll hand it to you. You’re smart, but I can’t talk about my mission.”

“Okay,” Light chirped. “So have you met L before? What does he look like? Is he cool?”

Raye was beginning to suspect Light’s English wasn’t as horrible as the kid portrayed it to be. “I never met him before,” the honest reply was given, “and even if I did, I could never tell you.”

_So he doesn’t know about L at all,_ Light noted. The truth in Raye’s expression was plain as day. “Okay then, have fun spying on us! I’m going to go and buy some bread now. See you!”

Without waiting for another word, Light flew off to the bakery down the alley. He barely heard Raye screaming “IT’S NOT _SPYING_!!” behind him. 

In a few minutes, the young boy reached his destination. Kinoko’s Bakery stood out among the row of shophouses that graced the area. It was a bright and colourful building, and the wonderful fragrance of buns and cakes would always float out from the shop. It was not a bakery Light usually frequented, but it happened to be nearby, and he liked the designs of the cakes sold there. In any case, Light was hungry and he had to buy some bread home too for his mother, so they could have some toast for tomorrow’s breakfast. 

Quick as a flash of lightning, Light ran into the store, inadvertently bumping into a person he did not notice standing by the doorway. Light gave a yelp and was about to fall, but quick reflexes grabbed him by the wrist. 

“Are you okay?” A dull voice asked.

“Y-yeah,” squeaked Light, looking up at the person who helped him.

A strange-looking young man stared at him with huge, black eyes. The man was very pale, had a thick mane of messy black hair and wore a loose, plain white T-shirt and baggy jeans that were a shade of faded blue. A huge splotch of strawberry jam and some cake crumbs imprinted the center of the man’s shirt. 

The first thing that came to mind was — _beggar._ Yes, the man was dressed like a beggar!

“Sorry,” Light said, bowing his head immediately. Homeless man or not, he must show polite manners to those who helped him! Then he realised that he had run into the man and caused the man to dirty his shirt and drop his cake all over the floor. Light blanched at the sight.

_Oh no... I ruined the beggar’s cake! This is horrible! I destroyed his meal... God knows how long he’s been saving up for that? A month? A year?! I made him drop a lifetime’s worth of cake??!!_

The young man stared quietly at him. “It’s okay, there’s no need to worry...” 

“NO!!!” Light squealed out tearfully, grabbing the man’s hands. “I destroyed your precious cake, I made you lose your food! You won’t have anything to eat for the next seven days! It’s _horrible_!”

The young man gave him a flabbergasted look. “It’s just cake.”

“It’s the cake you’ve been dreaming of for days! I _can’t-_ I just, _oh no_ , I’m so sorry, let me make it up to you—“

“Please,” the beggar brought a hand up to stop Light from continuing, “I can buy another one.”

“What? No, you might not have anything to eat for the next fourteen days after that. I don’t want to be responsible for your death, Mr. Beggar. Let me pay for it! I insist!”

Those black eyes seemed to grow wider when Light called him that. “I... alright, you can get me a new slice, I suppose.”

Pleased to have won out the argument, if it even was one, little Light took the man’s hand and dragged him back into the bakery. He found the same type of cake and paid for it along with the bread his mother wanted, feeling glad that he had enough money, though that meant he wouldn’t have the cash to buy food for himself. 

“Here you go!” The cake was packed up nicely in a box. Light looked pleased until he saw the smudge on the man’s shirt again. “ _Arghhh!_ It’s horrible... Hey mister! You should come to my house and clean your shirt up!”

“It’s Eraldo,” the man finally sighed impatiently. “Call me Eraldo.”

“O-okay, Mr. Eraldo, please come with me,” Light said. This man is not Japanese, then? _He does look sort of foreign. Like a mixed blood. But he speaks Japanese very well..._

“It’s alright, it was just an accident,” Eraldo replied with a casual shrug. “You don’t have to get your mother to clean my shirt up.”

“I never mentioned my mum! How did you know?” Light’s eyes bulged in surprise. He was definitely planning to ask his mother to help clean Eraldo’s shirt...

“Deduction, I suppose. You are naught but a child, and I can’t imagine seeing your tiny arms scrubbing away the stain on my shirt. I am no beggar either. But thank you for the cake, you’re very kind,” Eraldo patted Light’s head and spoke in his soft, dull tone. 

“Huh, but I still made your shirt icky,” Light began to look like a sad puppy. “Daddy said I must always make it up to people if I made a mistake. Mr. Eraldo, won’t you let me make it up to you?”

Eraldo stared at Light and his big teary eyes for five seconds before he sighed again. “Very well, little boy. I’ll go with you.”

“Yay! By the way, I’m Light,” the brunette exclaimed, “It’s nice to help out people like you! Daddy said we must always help those who are poorer.” 

Eraldo seemed like he was about to open his mouth in protest, but thought better of it and shook his head. He began following after Light, who marched out of the bakery and headed to the direction of his home. 

“Is it very far away?” Eraldo asked when they started walking. 

“Not really. It’s about twenty minutes.”

“What?!” Eraldo took a small cellphone out of his pocket and started to dial a number. “Watari, please pick me up, I’m at the Kinoko Bakery...”

Light looked back and pouted. He had a driver... so the man wasn’t lying when he said he wasn’t a beggar! _Whatever._ He still insisted on wanting to clean the man’s shirt. 

Soon enough a big black limousine came into view, much to the young boy’s surprise. The car stopped in front of them, and an old Englishman came out. “Oh dear, your shirt...”

“It’s okay, Watari. This boy here, Light insisted on cleaning it for me. I’ll let him get to it.” Eraldo turned to the russet-haired child, “Light, please give my butler directions to your house.”

“Uhh, okay.”

Light told the old man his address and jumped onto the plump cushions of the back seat of the car as it was opened. It was so cool! He had never seen a limousine in real life, let alone sit inside one. 

“This whole trip really isn’t necessary, you know,” Eraldo said as he sat beside Light. There was a low rumble as the car began to drive. “I could just drop you off and go home and clean my own clothes.”

“But you promised, Mr. Eraldo! You said you would let me make it up to you.” 

“And so I have, but you thought I was a poor, homeless man. Now that you’ve seen enough evidence, surely you can let me go?”

“‘No! I don’t care.”

The old man driving in front chuckled and spoke in fluent Japanese, “Eraldo is quite wary of children. He’s intimidated by the thought of you throwing a tantrum if he refuses.”

_“Watari!”_

“Ah-hah! Mr. Eraldo, I will cry and scream if you keep trying to find excuses from coming with me to my house.”

“Alright,” the raven-haired man cried, clearly distraught, “I’ll go down with you. Don’t you dare start throwing tantrums on me!”

They rode on without further incidents. Soon enough, Light could see his house looming in the distance. “There, there it is!”

Watari stopped just outside the Yagami household. Light took Eraldo’s hand and dragged him out of the car excitedly. The young boy opened the gate, pulling the older man in; Watari had opted to stay in the limousine, watching them through the car window. 

“Slow down,” Eraldo complained, “I’m not running away. You don’t have to drag me through your front yard like I am some common criminal.”

“Oh, shush!” the younger boy hissed. He unlocked the front door and found himself in the living room. “I see my mother. Mummy, Mummy!” 

Sachiko looked up in surprise; she had been in the midst of sweeping the floor. “Oh my,” she exclaimed, her eyes falling onto Eraldo and his shirt. 

“Mummy, I bumped into this man by accident while he was eating cake,” Light explained, “so I thought to bring him home to clean his shirt!”

“Madam,” Eraldo greeted with a bow, “your son is indeed thoughtful but there’s really no need, though your son dragged me all the way here, I can clean my own—“

“Why, your shirt has been _ruined!_ Pass it to me.” Sachiko dropped her broom and hurried over, hands outstretched as she demanded for Eraldo’s shirt. “My Light must have been careless, I assure you he didn’t mean it. I will take responsibility for his mistake. Now take off that shirt, sir, I will get it cleaned and spotless in less than an hour!” 

Eraldo closed his mouth and stared at the housewife sheepishly before complying. He was silently wondering if he had stumbled upon a very helpful and passionate family, or if they were just ridiculously subservient to the public. 

Now topless, Eraldo sat down on the couch while Sachiko bustled away to the back of the house, where she would scrub and clean away the mess. Light on the other hand took a seat beside Eraldo, looking smugly at the older man, as if he had done a great deed of saving the world. “So,” the boy started, “what do you do for a living?”

“What? Why would I tell a random kid like you?” Eraldo deadpanned. 

“I’m curious how a man gets to have a butler driving a limousine around!”

“Hmmm...” Eraldo studied the child closely. “You seem like an intelligent child. Why don’t you surmise from your interactions with me so far?”

“I thought you were a beggar at first,” Light pouted. “I doubt I can make a good guess... but it probably involves working from home a lot.”

“Adequate,” Eraldo chanted. “May I ask why you think so?”

“The way you dress,” Light nodded at the jeans. “The way you appear, with your mild eye bags and messy hair. You don’t really care about your appearance! A normal Japanese man cares very much about how they look when going to work. Ah!” Light seemed to think of something. “Are you Japanese? You speak so fluently, but you’re clearly not a pureblood. I can’t really tell what you’re supposed to be.”

He didn’t mean it offensively, and Eraldo gave a small chuckle. “I know and speak many languages fluently, but no, I am not a Japanese. I don’t live here either. However, I do carry some Japanese ancestry in my bloodline.”

Light’s eyes bulged in wondrous amazement. “That’s cool! Why did you come to Japan?”

“Work,” came the reply dismissively.

“ _Uh-huh._ So did I make a wrong guess, then? If you could work from home, you wouldn’t have to fly here.”

Eraldo seemed to grin at that. “You were correct; I usually work from home. However my latest task has prevented me from doing so — due to the difficulty of the circumstances presented, I had no choice but to come here.”

Then Light began to pry, asking Eraldo questions about where he was from, and what the job was about. Eraldo would not tell him anything, much to the boy’s annoyance. He was able to deflect questions with roundabout answers that did nothing to soothe the curiosity flaming within the child’s heart. 

After a while, Light gave up and decided to sulk beside Eraldo, who looked like he was having fun. “Why don’t you do your homework? I can help you with it, if you like. There’s probably another fifteen minutes where I need to be here, if your mother’s given time is any indication to go by.”

“Homework is too easy.” Light shifted his nose high in the air, exuding an air of haughtiness. “I always get full marks on everything in school and I do my work without help! Everyone says I’m a genius. Unlike my classmates, who either get their parents to help, or they struggle to pass. Honestly, what a hopeless bunch.”

“Is that so. A genius, eh?” Eraldo’s obsidian black eyes widened, intrigued. “Exemplary academic achievements do indicate a hint of extreme intelligence, but a genius also does very well in other matters, such as thinking out of the box.”

“I’m pretty sure I’m good at that too,” Light frowned. “I can come up with ideas that normal people wouldn’t!”

“Oh? Like what, if I may ask?”

“Uh, like hiding things!”

Eraldo surveyed the russet-haired boy with a raised eyebrow. “So how would you hide... let’s say, a chocolate bar, for example?” 

Light tilted his head to the side, thinking quickly. “If it’s this big—“ he gestured his hands to indicate the length of a baby carrot “—then I would hide it behind the bars of my air-conditioner. Not only would people not check that, but when I turn the air-con on, it cools the chocolate too!” 

Eraldo let out a laugh at that. “Interesting! Maybe that’s where my younger baby brother keeps hiding them.”

“You have a baby brother?”

“Yes, he’s adopted. He is about three to four years younger than you, and loves chocolate.”

“That’s nice. Is he a genius too?”

“Yes,” Eraldo grinned. “Just like you.”

Before Light could ask any more questions, his mother appeared with a shining white shirt. “I’m done!”

The shirt looked brand new, and Light cheered. “Mummy has the best cleaning magic tricks!”

Even Eraldo looked impressed. “Why, thank you, Madam. You even dried and ironed it. I am... very grateful.”

Sachiko bowed her head. “The pleasure is mine, young man. Your shirt is made of high quality, very durable cloth that made it so easy to work with. I am glad I was able to remove the stains completely. I hope you can forgive Light for his blunder!”

“It’s no problem. I had a great time speaking with your son.” Eraldo put his shirt back on and smiled, satisfied. “I will be going now. I have many errands to run. Goodbye, and thank you for everything.”

With that, he bowed politely and began to take his leave. Light stared after his back before blurting, “Mr. Eraldo! Will we get to meet again?”

Eraldo turned slightly to wave. “Perhaps,” came the reply before the young man got into his limousine, and the car drove away. 

Sachiko then went back to doing her chores, and Light returned to his room, finding Ryuk on his bed playing Zelda. “Oh, hey! Finished your talks with that weird guy?”

“Yes, yes, time to study!” Light hopped onto a chair and began his usual routine, quickly putting away the memory of encountering the intriguing Eraldo fellow. 

—————

A week rolled by, but the FBI agents did not find anything strange with any of their targets. L was rather peeved by this turn of events. It seemed like Kira hadn’t let slip any mistakes, this time.

However, right before L dismissed the FBI agents from their boring task, he received an interesting report from the director of the FBI. 

To be more precise, it was written by a Naomi Misora, who was one of the FBI’s latest agents. She had been working on an important case in LA, and was not selected to go to Japan. However, Naomi kept contact with Raye Penber, an agent who was in charge of observing the Yagami household.

Apparently, Raye had chosen not to report an incident that occurred during the observation, due to fear of getting reprimanded. Instead he mentioned it to Naomi, who thought it was suspicious, so she did some digging around and discovered that the criminal involved in the incident had died in a fire, and his real identity was never found. 

Naomi, disappointed that Raye failed to follow up on the whereabouts of the mysterious criminal diligently, and finding his integrity lacking, took it upon herself to inform the Director, writing out the exact events that had happened (after scolding and demanding for Raye to tell her everything) and voiced her suspicions on the incident. 

_‘Even though Raye insists otherwise, I believe that the boy, Yagami Light manipulated Raye into showing his real FBI badge. I request L to look into the matter seriously.’_

Such were her words that the Director, Steve Mason felt complied to show the report to L, who found it intriguing. 

“Yagami Light...” L slowly searched through the piles of papers on the floor, where he had recently asked Watari to print out hardcopy profiles of all the people being investigated. He did not find it. 

“Is it at the lesser pile for secondary or tertiary suspects?”

L waddled to another bundle of papers. He had not gone through this particular stack, since it was primarily profiles of children and young teens below 15 years of age. 

Finally, he found it, **Yagami Light.** “Ah, there you are...Wait, _this is—!!”_


	8. Oops!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> See title.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait! Been swamped up with real life things >_<
> 
> I drew a lot of little Light sketches at some point! So I didn’t forget D:

L stared at the profile for a long moment. Then he put down the paper and said aloud to himself, “No, it can’t be...”

He remembered the boy as if it were yesterday. Light had been a memorable child, even for L who had seen many gifted children at the Wammy’s House. The intelligence and deviousness in those cute brown eyes, the way Light talked and acted — it had all made an impression on the World’s Greatest Detective, who had been posing as Eraldo at the time. 

But to say that Kira is a child, that would be... 

L didn’t know what to think about such a revelation. No, wait, he could not jump to conclusions yet! To say that Yagami Light was Kira would be extremely far-fetched, just by basing evidence on the incident with the criminal that attacked Raye Penber and Light. There was always a chance of things happening in a coincidental manner, making Light seem like he was behind everything. In reality, the young boy could just have been in the wrong place at the wrong time, and Kira decided to kill the criminal that tried to harm Light on that very day. 

However L did note that the genius little brunette fitted the personality profile of Kira. A childish murderer who was both smart and cunning, had access to police files, etc... 

_ I’d give it 5%,  _ L decided. _ I will have to monitor this child more closely. Furthermore, I have yet to meet his father, and I specifically flew here to gain the trust of the NPA members who will stay behind to continue the investigation. If Light has to be a suspect, it won’t go well with his father... yet 5% for a Kira suspect is already very high, considering the circumstances... _

—————

Light was whistling a tune as he skipped along the road. Things were looking great for the russet-haired boy; L was silent as ever, the police were still foolishly grasping at straws and Ryuk was sated by his daily apple.

Raye Penber had stopped tailing him ever since two days ago, so Light figured that L had given up. Oh well! As long as the stupid coward backed off, Light had no problem continuing his hero crusade. There’s no time to play with L! With all the criminals roaming the world, Kira has to work hard and vanquish them all!

Right now, it was getting really dark outside. Light had sneaked out of his home without anyone knowing. His idea right now was to go on a walk around criminal-infested areas and crime hotspots, to see if he might catch any bad guys up to no good. Normally, any kid would be frightened out of their wits, walking alone at this hour in sketchy areas. But Light had Ryuk with him! Nothing could possibly go wrong,  _ right? _

“Light, Lighto,” Ryuk called out from behind, still munching the apple. “What are those men doing?”

“Hmm?” Light stopped in his tracks and looked at the direction Ryuk pointed out to him. He could see some men holding... “Guns!” Light shrieked in horror. Big guns,  _ oh no. _ They must be bad guys! 

He quickly hopped behind a lamppost as he spied a dozen men running in the distance. They all wore black formal suits and reminded Light of formally-dressed yakuza men, and were surrounding a normal-looking house. 

“Crap, these men are going to rob or kill the people inside,” said Light, horror etched on his face. It was horrible! He had to do something. 

“A hero can’t stand by idly to watch. But what do I do?”

Ryuk gobbled the last bits of fruit and casually brought up the deal, “The Shinigami Eyes sure could help you out here,  _ eh, _ Light?”

“No! Do not tempt me,  _ O  _ Devil,” a cross-looking Light pointed a shaky finger at the towering Shinigami. “I’m not giving you my soul so easily!”

Ryuk shrugged. He was getting used to Light calling him sidekick, partner, devil,  _ whatever _ . As long as he got his entertainment, Ryuk didn’t care about it. 

“But still...” Light turned back to the scene. “I must do something.” He decided to crouch and dug through his black bag, putting on a black face mask that went well with his black cap, jacket and pants. His Death Note was already in there, with a pen. Light even packed a penknife, scissors, torchlight and a pair of gloves. Yes, the teen child was all geared up to snoop around in darkness!

“Now, Kira is going to attempt Operation: Stop the Yakuza! I prepared a criminal for this.” Light turned back to see a strange, tall lady following from a distance behind. 

Light remembered what he wrote just before leaving his house:  **Hirano Ichika goes to buy groceries from the store nearby. On the way to the store, she spots a boy wearing full black clothing and follows him. When the boy puts on a black mask, she waits 3 minutes before running up to grab him and meets an accidental death before she can do so.**

_ Hirano is a serial kidnapper on bail who targets cute little boys like me! She would definitely follow what I wrote in the Death Note without dying from a heart attack, since it’s in the realm of possibility for her to do such a thing. Right now, I have to make use of her to distract the bad guys. By putting on the mask she’ll run up to me and die somehow. _

Light got up and began walking towards the house that was being surrounded by black suits. The men started staring at him in bewilderment as he approached slowly, and most of them quickly tried to hide their guns away behind their backs. 

The young boy walked up to the closest one and said, “Sir, what are you doing?”

“What? Get lost kid, this isn’t a place for you,” the man growled, sounding nervous.

Just then Hirano gave a scream and began running towards Light, prompting the brunette to gallop away hurriedly. The man was caught off guard, however, and raised his gun, shooting the woman by accident. 

There were gasps of shock. Then suddenly gunfire rang out, as people from within the house began shooting the troop of men outside; Light watched in horror from a corner faraway that he had escaped to. He saw the group of ‘yakuza’ rushing into the house, and more gunfire sounded. 

“What’s going on?” A stupefied Light asked Ryuk, who giggled excitedly.

“I dunno, Lighto, but it seems fun!”

The duo watched as the chaos rang through the quiet neighbourhood for another ten minutes or so. Then police sirens could be heard approaching the area. Light took it as his cue to leave immediately. There was nothing he could do for now.

—————

“Damn that Kira! He  _ really _ went and did it this time!”

Sōichirō banged on the table, his tone upset. He had just read the headlines of the newspaper for the day, and Sachiko hurried over. “Dear, calm down. You’re scaring the children.”

“Ah, I’m sorry, I lost it for a moment,” Sōichirō sighed, looking apologetically at a timid Light and frightened Sayu. It was rare for them to see their father this angry. 

“What, what happened, Daddy?” Light dared to ask, looking up from his breakfast. 

“It was probably Kira,” Sōichirō explained wearily. “There was a major operation last night. A group of our men from the crime-fighting division were mobilised to take down an illegal drug den in a housing district... then something happened, and the operation was a massive failure.”

“What? That’s horrible!” Light’s face was genuine horror. “Kira only kills by heart attacks, doesn’t he? Did your men all die from heart attacks?”

“No, but it was triggered by one,” Soichiro explained. “There was this woman chasing her child. She appeared out of nowhere and took the men by surprise. One of them shot her by mistake, and someone nearby had a heart attack while watching. We aren’t sure if it was caused by Kira or the stress or the shock of the sudden situation. Then a massive shootout happened, since the criminals inside the house were alerted to all the noise. We lost a lot of good men. 

“L believes that the strange timing of the woman and the heart attack may be a huge possibility of Kira’s doing. However, L did express confusion in why Kira would attempt to help the criminals... Frankly I don’t care what Kira’s motives were, I believe he caused it!” 

Light’s eyes bulged wide at the story. To think he caused such a huge error... but,  _ but _ it was their fault too. They shouldn’t have been there and caused him to make such a big misunderstanding! 

Ryuk guffawed. “Oh,  _ Light,” _ the shinigami shrieked in fits of laughter, “guess your night exploration plan didn’t go so well, did it? Now you’re the reason why all those good men got hurt! What’s going to happen now, Light?”

Light ignored Ryuk as much as he could. The child was a mix of anger and horror. He didn’t think this whole thing could escalate into such a serious matter...

Well, he had now lost his appetite. 

“Light, aren’t you going to finish your food?” Sachiko looked surprised. 

“No, I have to do some homework. Sorry.” 

The russet-haired child carried himself up the stairs, while Ryuk floated behind, laughing wildly all the way. The shinigami hadn’t seen such an entertaining tragic comedy since Shakespeare’s plays!

Finally, Light got into his room. Ryuk was still giggling behind the boy, thinking of how a small ‘adventure’ had turned into a huge murder fest. 

All of a sudden, Light screamed and chucked his chair at Ryuk, who didn’t manage to phase through in time — the Shinigami yelped as he was thrown backwards against the door and groaned in pain, massaging his head. “Owww, Light! Why did you do that!” Ryuk growled. 

Light waved his fists at the monstrous figure angrily and yelled, “STOP LAUGHING! If you want to laugh, go somewhere else and do it! I don’t have the patience for you. Go away!”

Ryuk’s wide grin faded. Red eyed glinted dangerously as the Death God considered whether to write the child’s name or not, though he knew Light was heading towards another mega meltdown. There was a long pause, then... “Okay, fine,” came the cold reply, and Ryuk slinked away to some other place Light couldn’t care about.

If Light had made Ryuk angry, the child really didn’t care — at the moment, Light was even more furious than the world combined. He was lucky that Ryuk decided not to write his name in the Death Note for the insolence. 

The young boy then started throwing his pillows everywhere and almost threw Mr. Rabbit into the dustbin when he stopped himself. Sayu made the bunny doll for him last year. He couldn’t throw Mr. Rabbit away like that!

“Grrr, stupid. Stupid!  _ Why _ did the police force have to be there?!” Light hissed to no one in particular, flunking Mr. Rabbit back to the bed. He then threw himself onto the mattress with a loud, angry huff. 

It was so ridiculously stupid. If the police force hadn’t chosen to be there while Light was making his first round, none of this would have happened! 

“They only have themselves to blame,” Light eventually convinced himself. Yes, he did feel guilty, but who asked the police force to show up there? It was a simple case of being at the wrong place, at the wrong time. It’s not like Light did it on purpose. He wouldn’t have sabotaged the whole mission if he knew the truth. 

Meanwhile, L was in his nice hotel suite, enjoying all the sweets Watari could deliver. He was dressed in his simple attire, looking very out of place in the luxurious room, not that the World’s Greatest Detective minded. Right now, he was thinking about the strange case of yesterday’s failed operation. 

“Did they confirm that the woman’s identity was Hirano Ichika?” L asked Watari, who was busy flipping through some paperwork.

“Yes, L,” replied the elderly man. 

“Hmmm.” L took a scoop of ice-cream and spoke curiously, “Hirano Ichika had a history of being suspected for kidnapping young children... she was on bail at the time of death, and she never had any children.”

Watari had a look of curiosity as he put aside some papers. “Do you have an idea on what happened?”

“Yes, my mind is forming a new theory with this revelation. The original story given to me was that a woman came out of nowhere chasing after her child, which sparked the entire raid’s failure. Now that I know that this woman was a potential criminal with no kids, it changes a lot of things.

“According to the only survivor who saw the whole thing, the child was dressed entirely in black, and was anywhere from 8 to 14 years of age. They never did find any children in the vicinity afterwards. It was as if the child vanished without a trace. Based on everything so far, I strongly believe that the child is key to all this.”

L could not help but think of Yagami Light, the child that caught his attention. Could Light be the one behind it?  _ But why would he help criminals?  _

“Alright, so you say. With this, you do realise that it implies that Kira is a child?” Watari asked. “You’re reaching the conclusion sooner than expected. Do you have a suspect in mind?”

The elderly man was a butler, handler, caretaker and mentor. He was constantly asking L questions to make sure the detective could give him solid and confident replies, all in order to foster L into the greatest detective he could possibly be. After all, while L had already snagged the title for World’s Greatest Detective, the enigmatic young adult had only been in this business professionally for three years or so, and Watari felt that it was his duty to still check up on L’s development. 

“I do, Watari. In fact, we met the child not too long ago.”

“Oh?” A white bushy eyebrow was lifted. “Surely you do not mean...”

“Yes, Watari. I found out that Yagami Light is the child of the NPA Police Chief, Yagami Sōichirō, and a lot of pieces fit the puzzle when I substitute Light into my current theories. To be honest, it scared me when I thought of the possibility; the power of Kira in the hands of a child is mortifying. How does Yagami Light truly think? How does he kill, and what is his motive?”

Watari smiled as he saw L so focused into this theory of Yagami Light being Kira. “I cannot tell you the answers, Lawliet,” Watari replied. “But remember this.  _ When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.  _ Do not hesitate if Kira is a child or not; he must be stopped.”

—————

The killings continued. No new leads showed, and L had no choice but to consider the young Yagami Light as his number one suspect. Of course, if the boy was really Kira, it wasn’t like they could arrest and execute him — Light was a child, for heaven’s sake! They would have to understand why the young brunette would do such things, and then rehabilitate him. L could see Wammy taking a huge interest in Light for that, because if Light as a child could be such a clever murderer, his potential must be incredible.

But alas, this was all only conjecture based on if Light was Kira. 

Feeling that it was about time the NPA detectives would arrive, L called for Watari to prepare some tea. Kira’s latest stunt with Hirano Ichika had caused a mass walkout by the members of the Japanese Kira Task Force, and L had been waiting for this moment — he taunted the remaining men with sharp words and told them that they were free to leave if they were afraid. This test of his revealed that only five men would remain in the Kira investigation. 

It was not to his surprise that Yagami Sōichirō would be part of these men.

“Good day, gentlemen,” L greeted them in his fancy hotel room. “I am L.”

The five men gaped at him with shock and astonishment. “Are you really L?”

“You’re just a teenager!”

“This isn’t a prank, right?”

Watari then chose to appear from behind, and gave them a small bow. “Greetings, members of the NPA. I am Watari. Surely you must be thinking, ‘how can a young adult be L, and is Watari really an old man?’ Well, I can safely assure you all that we are the real L and Watari. There are no fakes in this room.”

The group of men stared, speechless this time. Then Sōichirō decided to step out and showed L his badge. “I am Yagami Sōichirō,” he said. 

One by one, the others came out with their badges, introducing themselves. The members aside from Sōichirō were Aizawa Shūichi, Mogi Kanzō, Ukita Hirokazu and finally Matsuda Tōta, the intern working closely under Sōichirō. 

L let them introduce themselves, watching quietly. When Matsuda finished his own introduction, L’s mouth began to tremble, and his body shook. He then burst out in laughter. 

“What’s so funny?” Aizawa asked, looking offended. “This isn’t a joke!”

“Hah, haha! I’m sorry, but are you all really top detectives of Japan? If I were the real Kira, you all would be dead. Yes, you lot make this too easy.”

Soichiro gulped. “Wait, you’re right... Kira needs a name and a face to kill someone.”

“Yes, Mr. Yagami.” L wiped away the tears from his eyes and suddenly turned very serious. “Though logically speaking, it should be impossible for anyone to be able to kill a person only by knowing the victim’s name and face, but that’s what Kira is doing so far. Thus we must take into account that Kira is using a supernatural killing method.

“In any case, since we are the only ones left pursuing Kira, please do not give your names away so recklessly. I implore all of you to be more cautious.”

With that L turned around and sat down on a couch, and beckoned the group of policemen to join him. “Come, we shall talk about some things.” 

Watari appeared to serve L some tea as the five men made their way to the seats around L. They were intrigued by the strange young man that was known as the World’s Greatest Detective. Quietly they stared and waited for L to say something. 

“Let’s discuss what we confirmed about Kira so far, shall we?” L tapped his cup with a teaspoon, drawing attention. “Firstly, let’s talk about the method of killing. It’s pretty much confirmed that Kira needs a name and face to kill. Based on our current data, all major criminals whose names have been falsified, unknown or erroneously reported, are still alive.”

Matsuda looked at his mentor timidly and raised his hand. “I have a question,” Matsuda mumbled.

L glared at the youngest member, the intern under Sōichirō. Secretly L thought that Matsuda was very brave to come here. “Yes?”

“I was wondering, in this case, why not have the news just cover up all the names or something? We can falsify the names in the database as well.”

“That brings several problems, don’t you think?” Aizawa said to Matsuda with a disapproving look. 

“Matsuda raised a good idea, but it wouldn’t work for long. I have a strong feeling that innocent people will die if we do that,” L said.

“Why so?” Ukita asked curiously.

L took a sip of tea leisurely before glaring at them. “We initially thought that Kira would only kill criminals, but when I announced that I would find and stop him, he killed the representative without knowing that it was a criminal. This shows that Kira doesn’t stick to the whole ‘killing criminals only’ motive. 

“It also proves that Kira is willing to kill anyone who opposes him, or angers him, even if they aren’t a criminal. So if we hold back the real names of criminals, Kira might eventually ‘throw a tantrum’ as I call it, and start killing innocents. This is something we must absolutely avoid.”

The men nodded in agreement. Killing criminals was bad enough, but if Kira started focusing on innocents...

“In any case, there’s been something I have figured out as well,” L added. “We have thought all along that Kira only kills via heart attacks, but lately, two separate incidents have led me to believe that Kira can cause deaths with other methods too.”

“Oh? That’s new,” Sōichirō perked up at the information. 

“What makes you think he can kill people in other ways?” Mogi asked, extremely curious. 

L took another sip of tea. “As we all know, Kira has access to police database files, somehow. This means that Kira is either in the NPA, or has ties to someone in the NPA. Thus I secretly had the FBI follow and observe all the involved members of the Kira Case, as well as close family kin of said NPA members.”

“Hold on a second, you had people stalk us and our families?!” Aizawa shrieked. “Isn’t this illegal?”

“Yes. However, it’s necessary, don’t you think? Kira is smart and deadly. I am putting my life on the line for this case, so I will resort to dirtier methods if I must. Besides, the NPA is compromised, since Kira has access to criminal records in your database. Why wouldn’t I rely on another organisation for help?”

“The FBI is...” Aizawa wanted to retort, but Soichiro stopped him. 

“In any case, doing so has produced results. Something interesting happened,” L said, trying not to look annoyed at Aizawa. “One of the FBI members, Raye Penber, had been tailing a young teenage boy. The boy was suddenly attacked by a man, and Raye was inclined to help. In an attempt to calm the boy, he actually showed his badge and real name to the boy, though I highly believe that Raye was merely manipulated in doing so. 

“Anyway, since the criminal was hurt, Raye had the criminal sent to the hospital. However the criminal’s ambulance got into an accident and burst into flames, destroying all evidence and any hope to retrieve the criminal and determine their identity.”

“So you think that Kira caused the death by making the ambulance catch fire?” Soichiro asked. 

“I believe so. If you recall in some of our previous meetings, Kira has experimented on criminals in the past, making them draw things on walls and do things like confessing all their sins for no reason. If he can control the time and actions of deaths, surely he can control the circumstances as well? It doesn’t always have to be a heart attack.”

“Wow! That all makes sense. Excellent deduction,” Matsuda said with his eyes shining excitedly. 

“Furthermore, we have the Hirano Ichika incident,” L waved a finger. “She was a highly suspected criminal and she had no children, but all reports have said that she was chasing a young teen or child. This woman died from a bullet that shot through her right lung. It ties in with the incident with Raye Penber.”

“Then it is indeed hard to deny that Kira can kill with other ways of death too. Gosh, who knows just how many criminals Kira has really gotten to? All those other deaths of criminals that could be attributed to Kira...” Ukita replied with a shudder. 

“L, who is this teenager that Raye Penber was tailing?” Soichiro asked, noticing that L hadn’t revealed the identity of said child.

“Wait, are you saying that Kira is a young boy? Isn’t that a little too much?!” Aizawa asked, shocked.

L smiled. “So what if I say that Kira is a child? If it is true, will you not believe me? A child murderer is not an impossible scenario, though a very uncommon one.”

“But Kira, Kira is smart and has killed so many...”

“The views of young people are often in black and white. People who do bad things are evil, and people who do good things are good. If, let’s say, a child had the power to kill people with just a face and name, and decided to kill all the bad people in the world. They wouldn’t be bothered by the number of deaths they caused. It’s all bad people, after all.”

Soichiro cleared his throat. “L, you haven’t answered my question.”

“Oh.” L blinked his wide, obsidian eyes at the police chief. “Right, Mr. Sōichirō. The boy that Raye Penber was tailing... was your son, Yagami Light.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing this while trying to get into the mindset if everyone being 5 years younger is pretty mentally taxing! So I got slower >_<
> 
> But writing little Light is so fun. Though it’s also hard to find ideas of making him cute~
> 
> Also some people say that 13 years old isn’t really a child, but to me it is, since I’m pretty old now... (ahhhh)
> 
> Lastly I don’t know why AO3 keeps screwing up my formatting and stuff like adding a spacebar in between words and full stops. Like this . So annoying :(


	9. Wadako

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Light goes to play a kite.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait! Here it is.

Yagami Sōichirō stared at L with disbelief. “You’re lying,” the man squawked. “There’s no way my Light would do such a thing!”

“My apologies, Mr. Yagami. I know it’s rather unfortunate, but your son was the one Raye was tailing. Moreover, Light does fit the criminal profile I constructed on Kira — the boy is smart, has a very high sense of justice and is young enough to kill without heavy remorse.”

“This is preposterous, L. All my son does is study and do homework. Where would he have the time to kill criminals?”

“Kira doesn’t have to be there in person to kill, remember? In fact, if you are telling me that Light stays holed up in his room a lot, all the more suspicious it becomes.”

Sōichirō shut his mouth, seeing that he just planted another piece of plausible evidence into L’s theory. 

_ Oh god, could Light really be Kira? _ Sōichirō prayed and wished that it would not be so. In fact, the other officers were shocked as well. 

“How is that possible? Light is such a cute and innocent boy!” Aizawa argued.

“Yes, I have seen him a few times. It doesn’t seem like the sort of thing Light would do...” Mogi tried to counter L as well. 

The enigmatic detective simply looked at them and shook his head. “Please, gentlemen, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Everything is just a theory right now. I propose to monitor Yagami Light closely for a period of time, and if there is no such evidence, then he isn’t Kira. That’s all it will be. No harm will come to him.”

“Yes, it wouldn’t hurt to try and watch over Yagami Light for a bit,” Watari said. “The Kira Case is a difficult one. Every single lead and possibility should be studied and chased after, no? We haven’t had any other leads or clues aside from this.”

Yagami Sōichirō looked pained and buried his face in his hands. True that they had very little evidence or clues on anything else, so...

“Very well, I’ll feel better when we clear Light out of suspicion completely anyway. You can monitor him and treat him as a suspect, but I am confident that you’ll find nothing,” the elder man finally said firmly. 

“Chief!” Matsuda said, surprised at Sōichirō’s willingness to go this far. 

“He’s... he’s right. If it was my child, I too would want them cleared entirely of suspicion in such a scenario,” Aizawa joined in with a tone full of respect for the Chief’s strong conviction. 

“Then it’s settled then.” L lifted his cup and sipped the tea Watari prepared for him. “We shall work forward with Yagami Light as our main suspect.”

—————

Light was sketching on a piece of paper. He had seen Yamamoto draw the female lead from the comic Supaman in class earlier, and Light was amazed at his friend’s drawing skills. Surely he could do it too. Or so he thought until he got home and started to draw.

“ _ Aaahh _ , why is it so hard? Yamamoto made it look so easy! My Supagirl drawing looks terrible in comparison.”

He threw the paper into the wastebasket at the corner of his room, and Ryuk flew over to Light. “Hey, Light! You want to play some Mario together?”

“Huh? No, I’m trying to practice drawing,” Light said, reaching for a new piece of paper. “Yamamoto was bragging to me about how he was better than me in art. I’m going to prove him wrong tomorrow!”

“Well, would you look at that. Genius boy feels the need to be better in everything  _ again _ ,” Ryuk commented with a cackle. 

“Yes, Ryuk! I have to be good at everything. Whatever my friends can do, I can do too! And I can do it better than them!”

“ _ Pffft _ , what a sore loser. You can’t stand others being better at you, it seems. Such a child, you are.”

“What did you say!” Light looked very much offended, and Ryuk backed away a little while cackling again.

“I’m joking! Anyway I haven’t gotten my daily remuneration, Light. I hope you remember to give me my apple.”

“What am I, your mom? Can’t you go and get it yourself?” Light waved his hand at Ryuk, shooing the huge creature away. “I’m trying to draw a new piece!”

Silently Ryuk considered writing the child’s name for a second, then said, “How about I teach you how to be a professional artist if you pay me three apples a class?”

Light looked away from his drawing and glanced up at Ryuk with a look that said  _ are-you-kidding-me? _

“Hey, hey!” Ryuk put his hands on his hips. “What’s with that doubtful expression? I’m a Shinigami with years and years of experience, you know. Here, let me show you.”

Ryuk took the pencil from Light and began to draw an amazing rendition of Supagirl. Light could not tear his eyes off the paper as Ryuk worked. 

Stroke after stroke, each applied with precision and different pressure. Soon it was done.

“Wow, this, this is... incredible, Ryuk,” Light breathed once the Shinigami finished. Before him was a world-class level of drawing. It was mesmerizingly beautiful. 

“See? I told you I’m a very experienced Shinigami. So what do you say?”

“Hmm. Three apples per lesson? How long is one lesson? You’ll teach me properly, right?”

“Yes, yes I will teach you everything! On behalf of my love for apples, I won’t be scamming you, don’t worry. You’ll get yer money’s worth. An hour for a class sounds good?” 

Three apples for an hour-long class with a teacher with at least several thousand years of experience? What a steal. Light smirked and said, “Sounds good. I’ll give you the apples once you finish teaching me, so I know you’re not going to cheat me with some half-assed lesson. Also can you teach me other things, aside from art?”

Ryuk shrugged. “Depends on what. As long as it doesn’t have anything to do with the Kira Case, I don’t see why not. In the name of my apples, that is.” 

“Good, good. If you can teach me English, that would be really nice, Ryuk. My English teacher is boring and slow. I want to improve faster!” Light got up from his chair and put Ryuk’s drawing into a folder. It was way too beautiful for Light to throw away. 

“English lessons too? I don’t mind.”

Before Light could say any more, he heard the doorbell ring. “Oh, is that Daddy?”

Light rushed out of his room and went down the stairs. He got to the door and opened it with a smile. “Daddy!”

Yagami Sōichirō looked rather weary and exhausted. Behind him were his colleagues, and Light recognised most of them. “Hello, Uncle Aizawa, Uncle Mogi,” the young teen greeted.

“Hello, Light. You sure are growing fast.” Aizawa stooped a little to pat Light on the head.

_ I haven’t even gotten my growth spurt yet. When I do, I’ll be so much taller! _ Light thought.

“Ah, Light. This is Ukita, a colleague of mine, and Matsuda, a new intern under my wing. They’re pretty young compared to Aizawa and Mogi, so you don’t have to address them as uncles.”

“Oh, hello!” Light gave the latter two an angelic smile. “What brings you all here today?” 

“We had a meeting. Thought I’d invite them for dinner,” Sōichirō said. “But it is quite early, huh? I think my men can sit down and wait in the living room. Anyway Light, you and I should go and play some kites. I promised you after all.”

Light instantly lit up like he was the happiest child in the world. “Oh really?! Yay!”

He put his hands up in the air and raced around the room in circles, cheering for the occasion, then said, “Are we going to the field nearby, Daddy? Do we take the green kite or the blue one? I like the blue one, it’s really cute!”

“Then we take the blue kite. Go now, Light. We must come back before dinner.”

“Okay!” Light flew to the storeroom where the kites were stored. He found the one he wanted — it was a traditional Japanese kite known as  _ wadako _ , fashioned out of bamboo rods and Japanese paper. Sachiko personally made the picture on the kite by herself. She had drawn and painted a cute blue rabbit on the paper.

Taking the kite and other equipment they might need, Light returned to the living room with the items and presented them to his father. 

“Ah, have fun playing _ tako-age _ ,” Ukita said kindly to Light, then he turned to Sōichirō and added, “We’ll be here waiting, Chief. Take your time and enjoy yourselves.”

“We will,” the Chief said. However, this was no normal father-son bonding moment. The men had discussed with L earlier — while Sōichirō took Light to fly kites, the members of the newly formed Kira Task Force would go and place some monitoring cameras into Light’s room, and see if any evidence would present itself in seven days.

Of course, little Light had no idea the men were plotting such naughty things behind his back. He was simply too happy to be able to finally spend time with his daddy.

After bidding his father’s colleagues goodbye, Light raced to the gate, jumping excitedly while Sōichirō closed the door and walked up to him calmly. Light then began to chatter happily as his father took his hand and led the way.

Even if Light was too old for hand-holding, the young teenage boy didn’t mind as he was glad for more bonding opportunities with his father. Each gesture from Sōichirō told Light that his father cared about him deeply. Such was the price of his promotion to Chief that Sōichirō barely had any time to spend with his children, and every second with his father was precious to Light.

Finally they reached the park, which was not too far from the Yagami residence. A small crowd was already there. Some people were jogging and some sat around for a picnic, but most were playing and flying kites. The late afternoon sky was streaming with bright specks of colour, so full of various kinds of  _ wadako _ , and Light was filled with tons of energy and enthusiasm as his father brought him around the place to look for a good spot.

Ryuk had tagged along too, and was standing behind Light, looking at the sky. Suddenly the Shinigami spotted something. 

“An apple kite!” Ryuk exclaimed joyfully. He stared at a particular white kite with a huge red apple painted on it. A small child was flying the kite, unaware that she was being eyed by a Shinigami. 

“Daddy, this place is a good place,” Light said, running to an empty patch of grass beside a pond. 

“No, Light, you might fall into the pond. I can’t have that.” 

Light pouted; his father was overprotective sometimes. He waddled after Sōichirō as the man walked away, continuing his search. 

“What about here?”

“This is a good spot. Let’s fly our kite here.” 

Cheering, Light hopped into position. He watched as his father stood with his back against the wind, took the kite by its bridle point and let the line out.

The wind was steady and strong enough. Soon the kite went flying into the sky, and Sōichirō pulled the line to keep it at a good position. 

“Wow, this is cool!” Light exclaimed. “Can I try?”

“Yes, come here. Take the line from me.”

Light grabbed ahold of the line from his father, but the kite fell down soon after. Light glared at the kite. 

“No, not like that. Let me show you,” Sōichirō chuckled. Unbeknownst to him, Ryuk played a huge part in the kite falling — the Shinigami had flown up and smacked it down, so Light was actually glaring at Ryuk, not the kite. 

Ryuk squawked loudly. He took some form of delight from Light turning angry while being unable to tell him off. “Okay, let’s try again,” Light said, sticking out his tongue at Ryuk when his father wasn’t looking. 

“Hold it,” Sōichirō instructed, “feel the wind. Raise your hands in the air, and when the wind lifts the kite, you tug on the string to make it point upwards.”

Light did as he was told, and the kite slowly flew higher into the air. Soon the colours in the sky were joined by one more — a blue patch in the shape of a rabbit. 

“Yay! I did it, Daddy!” Light bounced up and down excitedly, “I flew the kite!”

“Ha-ha, good job son,” Sōichirō laughed heartily and clapped his hands. The man of two beautiful children was certainly feeling proud right now, and just for the moment, he was able to forget about L’s suspicions and the whole Kira Case.

Meanwhile, in the house, the team of Task Force members had begun to assemble the hidden cameras in the room. L was speaking to them through the special earpiece that Watari provided to the men.

“Make sure Matsuda doesn’t place them in a bad spot that Light could easily find,” L advised as the men began installing cameras everywhere. “He’s new, but I can’t afford inexperience to get in the way. Also I know that Light is very imaginative and hides his things in peculiar places, it would be bad if he found a camera before we catch him in any action.”

Aizawa kept a good watch on Matsuda following this. He was a very no-nonsense person and made sure to do everything the prim and proper way. Rigging Light’s house with taps and cameras was not something he was happy to do, but Sōichirō had insisted on it anyway.

Soon after they were done, they went downstairs, where Sachiko had just finished serving tea. She had been informed by her husband that they were ‘testing’ some new equipment and wanted to try it on Light’s room, and Sōichirō had volunteered and approved the test himself. Sachiko wasn’t that pleased, sensing that there was something off about this matter, but she was just a woman of the household. She didn’t really have the power or the right to speak out against it.

“Are you done with your task?” The woman was warm and polite despite her misgivings. “Please take a seat and enjoy this new tea I bought recently.”

“Thank you, Ma’am,” Matsuda said, the first to sit down and take a cup. He looked like he just accomplished the biggest mission of the century, exhausted but proud of himself.

It didn’t take long for the excited voice of a young teenager to be heard. As Light returned from his trip to the park with his father, the kite in hand, smiling all over, the little brunette skipped through the door and found the Task Force members sitting there as if nothing extraordinary had just occurred.

“Welcome back,” Ukita greeted. “Did you have fun, Light?”

“Oh, yes, I did!” Light greeted the men with a wave. “I learned how to fly the kite with my daddy, it was fun! A lot of people were there too.”

“Yes, it’s the season right now.” Sōichirō came up from behind Light, wiping some sweat from his brow. He was beaming with pride, evidently from his son’s new accomplishment, and had enjoyed the time he spent with Light. Now that he was back, however, he turned to his men with a serious expression and said, “Did you all have any problems while I was gone?”

“None at all,” Mogi replied. 

“Nope, all good,” said Aizawa. 

Sōichirō nodded. “Good to hear. Let’s have dinner after Light and I get ourselves cleaned.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I based this on my experience as a child. I had a memory of my father teaching me how to play the kite when I was very young, in a field just outside my old home. In any case I did some research on kite-flying for this chapter, and it's quite a popular activity in Japan during the spring season too!
> 
> Happy holidays, everyone!


	10. Shocking Observations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something shocking is seen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy birthday, dearest Light! 
> 
> I’m sorry this took quite long to write, but I’m quite satisfied with how it turned out!! Hope you guys enjoy it!!

The dinner was pretty uneventful. Sachiko and Sayu had already eaten before the men began, so the two females decided to retreat to the pantry, where Sachiko taught Sayu how to bake a cake. This meant that the table would be all men and business; Light ate his meal as he watched the adults converse, and he was very polite and well-mannered. 

If he felt like they kept giving him weird looks, he said or thought nothing about it; Light was still riding on the happiness from flying kites with his father. However he did pay attention to the conversation, since they mainly spoke about several cases they had been working on in the past, and even asked Light his opinion in some things. Seeing a chance to prove himself as a smart detective boy, Light jumped at the opportunity and gave them his thoughts, and cheered inwardly as Matsuda and Ukita shot him amazed looks at his answers. Thank god Sachiko wasn’t around — she would not have been pleased with them for talking to young Light about work. 

When he was done, Light excused himself and grabbed some apples, then headed upstairs to his room, saying he was going to do some studying. 

“Matsuda, you stare at my son too much, Sōichirō said with a shake of his head, as soon as Light shut the bedroom door. “You’re too suspicious! Relax.”

“Sorry, sir!”

“No matter. Now that he’s in the room, we should take our leave and get back to the hotel.” They had to rendezvous with L and monitor Light. 

“Light must really like apples. He took three,” Ukita commented with a chuckle. 

After that, the men prepared to take their leave. Placing the dishes into the sink for Sachiko, Sōichirō bid his wife goodbye, telling her that he had more work to do. He knew she wasn’t happy that he had to leave and work again, but Sachiko was a strong and understanding lady, and he was grateful as she kissed him and told him to take care. “You’ll put on weight if you stress yourself too much! Take it easy, good luck with the case,” she said. 

Meanwhile, Light was lying on his bed, flipping through a thick English book. He was studying and the Shinigami Ryuk was floating beside the boy while eyeing the apples in the basket.

“Light, apples...”

“Oh, you finally noticed? Hope you remember our deal. I got you three apples for an hour’s worth of lessons.”

Ryuk was salivating and he nodded and said, “Apples, apples, apples! I can smell them from here... so! Whaddya want to learn today? English?”

“Yes, I want to learn, and maybe I’ll do some extra worksheets too. You can guide me.”

“Easy!” Ryuk smacked his hands together. “Get your butt on the table. We’ll be attending Teacher Ryuk’s class tonight!”

Light giggled and got off the bed. He hopped onto his chair by the desk, dropping the thick English book onto the table, then swerved over to grab a pen. Ryuk floated over to his side and looked at the book, frowning. 

“This is baby stuff. You’re learning this? Damn.”

“What?” Light narrowed those brown hues of his, glaring at Ryuk. “Baby stuff? W-well, I just started learning English not long ago, and I think I’m already pretty good at it!” He pouted and had a defensive tone; evidently, his ego had been wounded. 

“I know, you’re probably better in English than most Japanese adults at this level. But what about globally! This won’t hold a candle to the kids in Britain. _Unless_ ,” Ryuk shifted and jeered at the young boy, “you are content just to be better than your own countrymen?”

Oh. _That sounded like a challenge._ Light’s annoyed stare at the Shinigami slowly turned into a sneer. “Why, of course I want to be the best. I _have_ to be the _best_!” He chucked the book away and folded his arms. “So what do you propose, teacher? I doubt you have any English materials on you.” 

“Of course not, you don’t see me carrying around an English textbook, do you? But I’m good enough to just speak and teach as I am, and I will be having you to write on a book. Speaking of which, you should get some blank exercise papers.”

Thus Light scrambled to find a nice, unused exercise book. He wrote his name and labelled it ‘Super English Lessons’. With that, he turned back to Ryuk and showed the Shinigami his book. 

“Good, you’re showing your seriousness! Now, where to begin. Let’s see,” Ryuk tapped his chin and looked up as he thought about it. It was at that moment, when a strange glint under the room light suddenly caught his eye. “Hey, what’s that?”

Light had placed his book down to write the day and date on the first page, and did not glance up to wherever Ryuk was pointing at. His hand glided over the smooth paper fondly, and was subtly reminded of his Death Note. Light had planned to work on his Kira duties after the lesson with Ryuk. Thinking of how he would be judging evil men later, Light smiled to himself and finally acknowledged Ryuk’s question without looking up. “What’s _what_?”

Ryuk had floated over and carefully inspected what seemed to be a micro-camera. The bewildered Shinigami gave a surprised squeal as soon as he noticed what it was. “Since when did you put cameras in here?”

Light was puzzled. “I did not.” He was writing an introductory page on the page now, and did not bother to watch the Shinigami while Ryuk flew around. 

“That’s strange. Here’s another one. Oh, I found one more!”

“Huh?” Light finally looked at Ryuk, and he thought the Shinigami was messing with him when he saw the shine of a small lens. Then he turned back quickly, his face turning pale. 

_That was a real camera..._

What. _What_ ? What was going on! How could there be cameras in his room? _Was he under suspicion?_ Did L catch wind of his Kira activities? Oh god, oh no, what to do now?

Panic seized his heart. He had been talking to Ryuk... and if it was really L — for who else could it be placing so many cameras in his room? Certainly not his father — then the messed-up detective would probably be watching him now. 

When did the cameras appear? Today? Yesterday? Or perhaps worse, _a week ago?_

Light gripped his pen tightly just as Ryuk flew back. “I found like twenty cameras, Light-o! I don’t think you have enough savings to buy more than one of these, hmm? Seems like someone _just_ put them, I didn’t see any earlier before we went out.”

Light blinked. The cameras were only placed in here very recently, then? Ryuk’s words seemed to make the situation feel better. Yes, he could do this, it was still salvageable. 

“Oh, Ryuk! What are you talking about. You’re just an imaginary friend, you know.” Light gave a laugh that sounded forced to the confused Ryuk. “What’s that, you need a walk outside before teaching me super English lessons? Sheesh, such a picky teacher. Fine.”

Light got off the chair and grabbed a bag. He took the three apples and chucked them in, then took a cap and put it on. “Let’s go! An evening walk to the park can clear my head and then you’ll have no excuse to teach me English.”

He put on a jacket and waddled out of the room with his bag. Ryuk had finally caught on, it seemed, and followed behind Light with an amused cackle. Such quick thinking for the boy! If L was the one watching the footage, Light might be in trouble.

“Light, where are you going?” Sachiko was downstairs mopping the floor when she saw her son heading out. 

“Just a walk to clear my head, Mum. Don’t worry, I’ll be back soon!”

With that, Light went out and headed towards the park nearby. Once he was finally a distance away from his house, he checked his clothes and bag for any sneaky devices before letting out a loud sigh. “That was close! Thanks for notifying me, Ryuk.”

“ _What_? I didn’t really do it for you,” Ryuk said. “It just caught me by surprise. I didn’t think much of it! Sheesh, I gave you a free tip by accident.”

“Oh, don’t be like that. Had you not told me in time, they would have caught you holding an object or eating apples, and what do you think will appear on the cameras? I can’t use the _‘imaginary friend’_ excuse by then.” 

Ryuk let out a loud hiss. The child was right! The cameras may not show Ryuk, but they could capture what would look like objects floating and disappearing into thin air. While he refused to help Light since he wanted to see how Kira would find a way out of things, the last thing Ryuk wanted to do was kill his best amusement in eons by his own doing. 

“Damn. What now? Does this mean I can’t eat my apples? Who do you think put the cameras in there, Light?”

Light gave him an incredulous glare. At this point, the most important thing Ryuk cared about was apples?

“You can only eat them outside now, at least until all the cameras are gone,” Light warned, waving a finger at Ryuk. “As for the cameras, if there are so many of them, then it’s gotta be L! Because my dad would never do such a thing, it’s a huge invasion of privacy and definitely not something the Japanese police force could do. Besides, the NPA would not allocate so many resources on one suspect! Those tiny cameras have to be worth a lot, and if they’re showing footage live, it must cost even more!

“On the other hand if it was L, then the question is why. Why me? How did he narrow down his suspects to me? Whatever it is, before I find out the reason, I need to shake him off my tail first. I can’t let him see me writing into my special Note, but I do have some loose papers with me for emergencies.” 

He had to formulate a plan now. To get those cameras—and suspicion—off him, he had to show them a solid alibi. Perhaps have a criminal live on TV killed while he was reading a book or doing some studying. But how was he supposed to do that?

“Grr, I’ll have to stop killing for these few days while I think of something. Thank god I set a list of bad guys to die for the next few weeks! But don’t worry,” Light reached into his bag and gave Ryuk the apples, “we can proceed with some lessons with you as my imaginary teacher. Though not too often either.”

Ryuk happily reached for the juicy red apples and bit into one. “Sounds good enough to me. I hope you solve the problem quickly, I need my daily apple fix!” He chewed on the apple and finished it really fast. Then it was onto the next apple. 

Meanwhile, Watari opened the door for Sōichirō and his men. The new hotel location was not too far from the Yagami house. “Greetings,” Watari said with a small bow. 

“Hello,” the others replied. They took off their shoes and left their cellphones on a tray, then gathered around L, who was seated before a ton of monitors. 

“Any luck?” Aizawa asked. 

The young detective, currently drinking a cup of tea, was pleased to see them. “Oh yes, hello gentlemen, I’ve got some interesting clips from today.” He gestured at the monitors, which were showing an empty room. “Light just went out for a walk, or so he says, thus we shall review what I observed earlier.”

Half the monitors beeped and spazzed before they rewinded back to what L saw an hour ago. It was Light, who just entered his room, and as it played, the team were stunned to see Light talking to himself. 

“What in the world...” Sōichirō was the most horrified person in the room. The others were bewildered as well, but said nothing until the footage showed Light leaving his room. Then the monitors went back to showing the live footage; Light had not returned from his walk yet. 

L turned to the men and gestured for them to sit down around him. “I trust that you all find this intriguing as I do?”

Sōichirō was the first one to speak. He spluttered, “I-I never knew Light had an imaginary friend? But surely that isn’t cause for concern!”

Aizawa piped in, “My neighbour’s kid often talks to himself when he plays outside in his garden. I get that it’s weird to watch a child speaking aloud to themselves, but not all that uncommon for one to pretend to have a friend when they’re alone.”

L regarded them with a dismayed look. To the sharp young detective, Light was acting like there really was another person in the room, something no one else could see. Since the Task Force had already established the fact that Kira was using a supernatural method to kill, Light talking to an invisible entity not only made sense to L, but it also was an exciting discovery! However, it seemed that the older group of men weren’t entirely buying it. Perhaps they were in denial at finally seeing a piece of proof that not all things were normal with the teenage boy. 

“Yes, young ones do have imaginary friends in general. However, while Light is a child in your eyes, he’s really a growing adolescent at this point, and from my assessment of him, Light is a realistic and smart boy who doesn’t believe in nonsense.” 

Matsuda shrugged. “I had an imaginary friend too, until I turned sixteen...”

L ignored Matsuda. He stared at Sōichirō and continued, “If you really want to chalk it up to Light still having magical friends at this age and mentality of his, over the possibility that he may be communicating with something supernatural and possibly dangerous, then yes, sure I understand. But I also have more evidence to show you.”

Watari suddenly appeared behind them and placed a stack of papers on the table before the men. 

“What is this?” Sōichirō’s attention was fully on L. His stomach was churning from anxiety, and a heavy hand picked up the first stack. 

It read: **Possible first victim of Kira — Matsumoto Chizuo, killed by mysterious heart attack during a hostage situation. The incident was shown live on TV. Leading the police force was Chief Yagami Sōichirō.**

When he read this, Sōichirō almost choked in his horror. He had almost forgotten about it. The incident had been months ago where Matsumoto Chizuo had just dropped dead while exchanging gunfire, and many of the police had assumed the man’s cardiac arrest was caused by the adrenaline or shock during the shooting. Kira was not a thing yet. However, right now, it did bring suspicion as he was the one in charge of the case, and therefore the strings were strongly connected to Light. 

The other men crowded around to look at the report and remembered the hostage shootout, as half of them had been mobilised as well. It was a really big incident that day. 

Then Matsuda picked up the second pile, which was titled: **Nakamura Jirokichi, possible second victim of Kira — suffered a mysterious heart attack while robbing a bookstore near Yagami’s house with his partner. After interviewing the cashier in charge that day, it was revealed that Yagami Light had been in the store at the time.**

Sōichirō was so dismayed by the new evidence that he couldn’t breathe properly. The elder Yagami just sank down on the couch and trembled, all the while holding onto the papers that listed the possible connection to Light. 

“Chief...” Matsuda sighed, while Aizawa looked at the floor, and Mogi stayed silent with Ukita. 

The atmosphere had turned really heavy. Even L did not want to speak for a while, letting the men grapple with the truth themselves. Then finally, Sōichirō looked up at L with weary eyes and said, “The connections are damning, but there’s surely... _a_ _chance..._ that Light just appears to be an obvious suspect? Maybe it’s a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. After all, he’s just a young boy...”

“Child criminals aren’t unheard of, Mr. Yagami.” L tapped his lip with a finger and gave the older man a hard stare. “Although ... perhaps you are right. Light is simply at the wrong place and wrong time. But is that not up to us to prove?”

For a moment the father of two glared back at L, then Sōichirō’s eyes slowly widened in surprise, and dark brown hues slowly began to shine. “Wait. So you mean... It's not confirmed that Light is Kira. There’s still hope for my boy!”

L nodded. “Of course, we still don’t have concrete evidence! We need to find the murder weapon. Hence no, we cannot confirm that Light is Kira yet.”

As if a mountain that had been pressing down on his shoulders suddenly disappeared, Yagami Sōichirō beamed with joy. Sighs of relief were released into the room at that instance.

“This is great! Now all we gotta do is prove that Light isn’t Kira,” Matsuda announced and pumped a fist energetically into the air. 

The officers began to chatter in a livelier manner, and that earlier gloomy atmosphere had transformed into a better situation. L surveyed his team with cold, black eyes, a faint smile at watching Sōichirō talk to his men.

_Yagami Sōichirō is a very capable NPA officer and detective, by normal circumstances,_ L noted quietly in his head. _However, his judgement and rationale are severely impacted by the stress of Light being Kira. On the other hand, the other members are also slightly biased towards the Chief’s son, and they are not as experienced or smart as Mr. Sōichirō._

L inwardly groaned at this thought. The current lack of manpower in this case annoyed the young L, and throughout the weeks, he had gradually started to realise that it was a lot bigger than he had expected. There was no other case like this, none in history as far as he was concerned. It was both troubling and exhilarating for the strange young detective, who had grown quite a bit of opinion over himself, after seeing all the cases as simple puzzles that enhanced his life and brought joy to solve. He never spent more than a month on anything, and yet now L was still stuck in Japan after close to two weeks, and still had no concrete evidence!

 _I’m running out of time._ L remembered a promise he made. _Soon those two will come and look for me. But it’s not going to be a bad thing, I suppose. I’d much prefer their brilliant minds compared to this compromised lot. Besides, Watari would be pleased to have me give those two guidance and hands-on training._

He never thought that it would come to this, since he prided himself on being the best and only needing himself to solve a case, but... desperate times call for desperate measures. After all, his life was on the line in the Kira Case!

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are complaints I’ve received over Light’s personality but do bear in mind this story is set in Japan and in 1995-ish.   
> Edit: It’s 1999 at the time of this chapter, based on the manga~
> 
> Kids back then are quite different than now, and the culture of Asian countries are different. At the same time I’m almost 30 years old soon, anyone below 17 -18 is generally considered a child.

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave comments and reviews! I appreciate the world when you do!


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